Forged dollars smuggled into Moldova from abroad

The police arrested six persons suspected of putting forged dollars into circulation, especially $100 bills. Vitalie Briceag, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s Frauds Division, told a news conference that the arrest was made in central Chisinau. During the investigations, it was established that the group had worked for about four months in the municipality of Chisinau. They brought the forged bills from abroad. The Ministry made a control purchase through the agency of a policeman under cover, who bought 1,000 forged dollars for 3,600 lei. The suspects are aged between 20 and 38 and are residents of Chisinau municipality and Straseni district. Allegedly, they had two underage accomplices. One of them, aged 16, involved his father in the group’s activities. Upon a search, the police found an F1 grenade, cartridges for the AK 47 gun and other ammunitions at the man’s place. Vitalie Briceag also said it’s not excluded that the offenders cooperated with employees of currency exchange facilities with the help of whom they put thousands of counterfeit dollars into circulation. Under the legislation of Moldova, the putting of forged banknotes into circulation is punished with 7 to 15 years’ imprisonment.