Appeared first in the West Indies, the counterfeit 20 euro banknotes has happened in France
- Northern traders were paid with counterfeit banknotes of 20 euros.
- These tickets are usually used in the film industry.
- The phenomenon first appeared in Martinique at the end of April.
Like in the movies. Last week, the gendarmes of the North were informed of the circulation of fake 20 euro banknotes usually used in the cinema . These are traders of Fourmies who gave the alert.
At least two traders from Fourmies, in the North, and another at Auchy-les-Mines, in the Pas-de-Calais, were paid with tickets of 20 euros dummies. They realized after the fact of the deception and warned the gendarmes. According to our information, few cuts were seized in the Hauts-de-France but the phenomenon seems to reach other regions, especially Brittany, in Redon, from the beginning of the year . There, they are false cuts of 5, 10, 20 and 50 euros have been sold.
The first cases in Martinique, end of April
But metropolitan France is not the only one affected. From the end of April, these same tickets were noticed in Martinique. According to police in Fort-de-France, confirming information from our colleagues in France Antilles , several traders were impacted, including a motorcycle salesman who was scammed 6,000 euros.
However, these counterfeit notes are easily identifiable despite an appearance similar to the real ones. First because they have no security present on the real cuts, but also thanks to two mentions written on it: “Movie money” and a sentence in English explaining that it is counterfeit notes. “We can compare that to a very nice photocopy. To the touch, they have nothing to do with real tickets but you can be had during a fast transaction, in a service station for example, “says Commander Riccardi of the Fort-de-France police.
Five years in prison and 75,000 euros fine
In fact, it is not about tickets made by counterfeiters. These cuts are those used in films and are specifically designed for the cinema. Hence the mention “Movie money”. Also, the penalty incurred by the perpetrators who use these cuts is five years in prison and 75,000 euros fine. A crime much less severely punished than the manufacture of counterfeit money, which is sanctioned by 30 years in prison and 450,000 euros fine. “We are on the release of monetary signs in lieu of coins or banknotes legal tender,” said the officer of Fort-de-France.
Investigations have been opened in Hauts-de-France and Morbihan. In Martinique, the police insure that it is about “some local offenders, not related to the affairs of the metropolis”. Commander Riccardi states that “anyone can buy these fake tickets for a few euros on the Internet”. The policemen of Fourmies evoke “Chinese sites like Wish.com “.
