HUGE BANK NOTE FORGERIES.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2709, 17 June 1925, Page 6

HUGE BANK NOTE FORGERIES.

ESTIMATED AT £IOO,OOO, London banks and financial circles are alarmed by the possibility Lliat a recently discovered forgery fraud of unknown magnitude may be an attempt by the Soviet Government to carry out their threat ,to upset the currency of “capitalistic”, countries. It has been discovered that counterfeit bank notes of the Imperial Bank of Canada to an amount estimated to be about £IOO,OOO have been in circulation for some time. The' forgeries, most of which have passed through banks in London or on the Continent, have been traced to a large extent back to Russia.

The bogus notes were so cleverly made that thousands of pounds of them it is said,'’were actually cashed ■ by the Imperial Bunk of Canada. Although the spurious notes have been in circulation since last summer, they have been discovered only within the last few weeks. The magnitude of the crime and the consummate skill with which it has been carried out arc taken as indication pointing away from any ordinary gang of counterfeiters. Many of the notes, which arc of 100dolhir denomination, may be still in circulation. The return by the Imperial Bank of Canada of nearly £60,00 in notes presented for payment has caused confusion. Holders of the notes, rather than remain out of pocket, are reclaiming payment from the banks from whom the notes were obtained. The banks, in turn, seek to recover their loses, and more than one legal action may result. The Imperial Bank of Canada have a bank-note .issue of about £2,200,000._ Their notes circulate freely not only in Canada, but in various other parts of the world. A large quantity of notes, now known ,to have been the work of counterfeiters, were negotiated in Persia last summer, apparently by Russians who gave the notes in payment for goods bought in Persia. The counterfeits were forwarded by the Resht branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia to its head office in London. They were then sold through exchange brokers to London banks, who in turn remitted them to Canada. An extraordinary feature is that none of those through whoso . hands the notes passed detected the fraud. It is understood that when presented for payment last October they were accepted by the Imperial Bank of Canada without demur. In the meantime, the forgers, evidently emboldened by the success of their first issue, Increased their activities, and issued further large quantities of the counterfeits. Some have come to this country through the Russian State Bank and others through the Imperial "Bank of Persia. The particular issue which the forgers have chosen is being withdrawn frqm circulation. The notes have a black, white and green face, are separately numbered, and dated January 2, 1917, Series A. The paper on which'the forgeries are printed is somewhat waxy in appearance, there is a slight variation in ,the figures, and the green on the back is not so clear as on the genuine The difference can be detected, however, only with great difficulty. The Imperial Bank of Canada have intimated that they propose to attempt to recover the money paid out to various banks for the spurious notes cashed six months ago.