Interpol holds ‘Supernote’ summit to address US dollar counterfeiting –

LYON, France (26 July 2006) - Representatives from the US Secret Service, law enforcement and security printing industries met at Interpol’s General Secretariat in Lyon on 26 July to discuss how to deal with a highly-deceptive form of counterfeit US currency known as the ‘Supernote’.

Reported to be manufactured in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), the Supernote is a high-quality counterfeit of the 50-dollar and 100-dollar note, also known as a Superdollar. The notes are produced using similar processes and materials as genuine US currency.

First detected back in 1989, concerns over the Supernote have increased recently with media reports, law enforcement publications, and industry journals indicating that the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was responsible for the production and distribution. The US National Security Council has indicated that government officials from North Korea were engaged in distributing the notes.

The notes are highly deceptive, but are detectable. They circulate mostly outside the United States.

Of the $753 billion dollars worth of banknotes in circulation, some 60% circulate overseas. To date, some $50 million of this family of false notes have been found.

[Link]

Slate: “What Are Supernotes? The best fake money that money can buy” –

Supernote production requires uncommon equipment and skilled engineers. At first, investigators thought they originated in Lebanon. Another theory from the 1990s held that Iran produced them on equipment purchased by the Shah two decades earlier and then shipped the bills to Lebanon via Syria. The real source of the bills has not been found, but a member of the Congressional Research Service reported that the government of North Korea produces millions of dollars a year with intaglio presses. In the meantime, the government ordered an extensive redesign of U.S. currency in 1996. (Supernote versions of the new $100 bills have been discovered.)

[Daniel Engber @ Slate: Link]

U.S. Treasury, How to Detect Counterfeit Money –

The public has a role in maintaining the integrity of our currency. You can help guard against the threat from counterfeiters by becoming more familiar with United States currency.

Look at the money you receive. Compare a suspect note with a genuine note of the same denomination and series, paying attention to the quality of printing and paper characteristics. Look for differences, not similarities.

[Link]

Nova: Secrets of Making Money (October 1996) –

ROBERT LEUVER: Ninety percent of the presses that are used to print security paper come from one company, De la rue Giori in Switzerland. And, Iran has these presses. They obtained them in the 1970s, as many other countries throughout the world. Anybody that has this equipment has the same equipment the United States has, so it’s not unthinkable that another country has these presses and is capable of using them if they want to subvert the US economy. Whether that’s Iran or some other Middle Eastern country, I don’t know. But the possibility exists.

STACY KEACH: In the world of money making, even a paper mill is a fortress guarding national secrets. Crane & Co. has made special paper for US currency since 1879, and has never before allowed cameras to document this process. Their paper is unlike any other in the world. And for the new currency, Crane redesigned it to be even more secure against counterfeiting.

[Nova: Link]

De La Rue Giori –

De La Rue is the world’s largest commercial security printer and papermaker, involved in the production of over 150 national currencies and a wide range of security documents such as travellers cheques and vouchers. Employing over 6,000 people across 31 countries, the company is also a leading provider of cash handling equipment and software solutions to banks and retailers worldwide helping them to reduce the cost of handling cash. We are also pioneering new technologies including tailored solutions to protect the world ’s brands through to government identity solutions in secure passports, identity cards and driver’s licences.

[Link]

KBA Acquires De La Rue Giori to Consolidate Pole Position in Security Printing –

Lausanne/Würzburg. On 30 May [2001] KBA in Würzburg acquired a 100% interest in Lausanne-based De La Rue Giori S.A., a leading supplier and consultant in the international security printing industry. Renamed KBA-GIORI S.A. with effect from 11 June, the company will progressively adapt its corporate image to the new ownership structure.
[Link]
[KBA-Giori: Home Page]

Unrelated to counterfeiting, but an interesting look at the power of wealth –
Indian Airlines Flight 814: Roberto Giori’s ordeal [December 1999]

At one point during the eight-day hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the abductors demanded $200 million from the Indian government. Little did they know that one of the hostages sitting in economy class could have effortlessly written them a check for that amount. Roberto Giori, owner of the Lausanne-based company De La Rue Giori, boarded Flight 814 after a holiday in Katmandu with his companion Cristina Calabresi. De La Rue Giori, which Giori inherited from his father, happens to control 90% of the world’s currency-printing business. The 50-year-old Giori, who holds dual Swiss and Italian nationality, is one of Switzerland’s richest men.

After the plane landed in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, where it would remain for seven days, Switzerland sent a special envoy to the airport to deal with the abduction of its “currency king,” his companion and two other Swiss nationals. It also put pressure on New Delhi to come to a solution that ensured their safe release.

[Time Asia: Link]
[See also Wikipedia: Indian Airlines Flight 814]