An international counterfeiting gang tried to con the Bank of England out of
£28 billion with “special issue” £500,000 notes that they had invented
They wanted the Bank to pay them the face value for thousands of forged notes,
also including £1,000 notes - a denomination that had not been legal
tender for more than 60 years.
Members of the gang told bank officials that they were representatives of
Chinese families from the preCommunist era who owned the money and wished to
exchange it.
They said that only six owners were left - ranging from 109 to 116 years of
age - “so time is of the essence, every day counts”
It will not surprise you to know the Bank of England contacted the City of
London Police
“As a matter of strict technicality, the name of
counterfeit only applies to a note that has been legal tender, so actually
the £500,000 note you see in this case would be better referred to as a
thing.”
clipped from: www.timesonline.co.uk 