Counterfeit plant had capacity to print €200m

THE counterfeit money plant busted in Laois was “one of the biggest and most sophisticated” ever found in Europe and had the capacity to produce around €200 million worth of fake euro notes.

Highlighting the international scale of the criminal enterprise, Europol, the EU police agency, has already linked the specialist printing paper and printing equipment found at the plant to Britain, Germany and Japan.

In a statement, Europol said: “In a joint operation, Europol and the Garda have arrested four men as part of a major investigation into one of the most sophisticated money counterfeiting set-ups uncovered in Europe to date.”

A spokesman said it was “one of the biggest” currency counterfeit plants they had come across and described it as a “very professional set-up”.

Elite gardaí from the Emergency Response Unit stormed buildings and lands outside the village of Borris-in-Ossory early on Monday morning, in an operation led by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI). They uncovered an underground print facility, contained in two 40-foot containers, serviced with electricity, heating and running water.

“A large amount of security printing paper, inks and holograms were seized, as well as other materials used in the counterfeit printing process, including three industrial printers,” said the Europol statement. “Preliminary estimates indicate that their set-up had the potential to produce around €200m in counterfeits.”

Garda sources said the plant was set up to produce fake €50 notes. This would indicate the plant had the capacity to print around four million notes. Gardaí said no printed notes were found, suggesting the printing had yet to start.

Europol said its experts were at the scene conducting a detailed examination together with the Garda Technical Bureau.

“Europol’s specialists are experts in tracking the sources of specialist paper and printing equipment worldwide. So far links to the UK, Germany and Japan have been identified in the current case.”

Gardaí said the four men had been released, pending further investigations. One of the men, a former senior member of the Provisional IRA, is considered the main suspect.

Garda sources stressed they did not suspect paramilitary organisations were involved and it was a purely criminal enterprise.