The counterfeiting of euro notes is on the rise and Italy leads the European Union for the production of the false paper, according to a report by the financial daily Il Sole 25 Ore.
The Bank of Italy last year discovered a total of 119,017 counterfeit euro notes for a value of 8.7 million euros, compared to 6.6 million euros in 2006.
According to the head of the counterfeiting and fraud department of the Carabinieri police, Alessandro Gentili, the most counterfeited note is the 100 euro bill, followed by the 50 and the 20.
Despite sophisticated techniques and state-of-the-art machinery, Gentili observed, counterfeiters in Italy ''produce notes which are only similar to the real thing. Thus, with a little attention, they can be easily identified''.
Italy, he observed, has a deep-rooted tradition in counterfeiting ''and today we hold the sad honor of the record in Europe for counterfeiting and fraud''.
One of the reasons why counterfeiting flourishes in Italy, Gentili explained, is that counterfeiters do not risk much if they are caught.
''It's sad to admit that when they do get caught, counterfeiters get only light sentences and are soon out of jail and back to business somewhere else and using different techniques,'' Gentili said.
The Italian regions where most of the counterfeiting takes place are the southern ones of Campania, Calabria and Sicily, although presses have also be found in the north.
The false notes are usually spread in regions which have a high influx of tourists and flow travellers, like Lazio and Lombardy.
According to Gentili, the counterfeiter gets 10% of a note's value from the 'wholesaler', but this percentage can go higher if the quality of the reproduction is better.
The wholesaler then turns around and sells the bill at 30% of their value to those to 'retail' the counterfeit notes.
