Government and Policy

Biggest money forgery den unearthed

By Wang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-11 10:20

CHANGSHA - Police in Hunan province have arrested four suspects accused of producing 210 million yuan ($31 million) in fake banknotes after busting the country's largest known forgery den to date, local police said on Thursday.

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On April 27, law enforcement officials in Guangdong found 67 million yuan in fake notes in a long-distance bus parked at a gas station. The vehicle's designated route was from Hunan to Guangdong.

A provincial-level investigation team was formed the same day. Law enforcement officials traced the forged currency to a three-story house in Changning, Hengyang city, in southeastern part of Hunan.

Police raided the place on April 30, seizing 9.04 million yuan in fake bills and forging materials, such as films, metal wires, paper, ink and slab rubber.

Police in Hunan and Guangdong captured seven suspects in May, and the Changning procuratorate approved the arrest of four on Monday.

Last August, the four suspects, all Hunan natives, allegedly formed a currency-forging organization in which every member had clearly defined responsibilities, the Hengyang police bureau said in a statement.

Police said 43-year-old Zhang Liangcheng, an experienced printer, rented the house in the name of "setting up a printing house".

He hired the two other suspects - 27-year-old Zhang Junlin and 23-year-old Yang Tao - paying each of the printers 50,000 yuan per run.

Cui Yunzhi, 35, was the landlord of the den as well as Zhang Liangcheng's cousin, police said. Cui leased his place to Zhang for 800 yuan per month.

Cui stumbled upon the operation when the group was printing fake notes last October. Zhang Liangcheng convinced him to let them keep the place for another month, promising 100,000 yuan in compensation.

Since production began last September, the group had forged 210 million yuan in three production runs.

The first two batches, with a total face value of 140 million yuan, had been transported to and sold in Guangdong, police said.

Police also captured Ou Xiaofang, Zhang Liangcheng's wife, as well as Wu Junfa and Wusheng, both Zhang's friends in Guangdong, who allegedly helped provide forging materials and sell the fake notes.

The Ministry of Public Security launched a 10-month national crackdown on currency forgery that focused on 10 provinces, including Hunan and Guangdong.

By last September, police had cracked 1,807 cases involving fake banknotes with a total face value of 684 million yuan and apprehended 3,619 suspects, the ministry said in a statement.