Finnish Customs suspected five Finnish nationals of bringing counterfeit notes worth about 260, 000 euros from Italy in February this year, said Customs in a press release on Thursday.
Three of the suspects remain detained on charge of aggravated money counterfeiting.
The Customs completed the preliminary investigation and forwarded the case to the Southern Finland Prosecution District for consideration of charges.
The counterfeit money arrived in Finland in express freight and postal parcels from Italy on at least four occasions.
In early 2025, Customs announced the seizure of more than 94 000 euros suspected to be counterfeit.
First, Customs seized about 60 000 euros worth of counterfeit money found in an express freight parcel that arrived from Italy. Customs then seized 34 200 euros worth of counterfeit currency from the sender of the parcel. This led to international cooperation between authorities, resulting in Customs finding a trail to a new case of money counterfeiting.
Due to the new case, Customs seized even more counterfeit money with a total value of about 164 000 euros.
“A common factor in both cases is that the counterfeit money originated in Italy, and the money arrived in Finland by express freight or in postal parcels. Once we initiated international cooperation, we managed to intercept a consignment of counterfeit money at the postal logistics centre. We seized the other consignments from the suspects,” said lead investigator Tero Virtanen.
After releasing information on the case at the start of the year, Customs received contacts regarding counterfeit banknotes.
“Numerous citizens contacted us at the start of the year, and it became apparent that counterfeit money had ended up in circulation in Finland. Counterfeit money may still be circulating. If you suspect that you are in possession of counterfeit currency, you should contact the Police,” Virtanen said.
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
