How to fight money counterfeiting in Azerbaijan? - PHOTO

“Cases of counterfeit currency accounted for 20-21% of examinations performed at the Center for Judicial Examinations over the last 9 months of 2010,” Ali Malikov, an official with the Judicial Examination Center under the Justice Ministry of Azerbaijan, said.  

Banknotes of 50 and 100 manat are most often exposed to counterfeiting in Azerbaijan, the expert said.

"During the reporting period, we have registered cases of forgery of small banknotes of 5, 10 and 20 manat. But such facts were revealed less by comparison, as I noted above, with large banknotes of 50 and 100 manat. The reason for common counterfeiting cases of Azerbaijan’s national currency is that right now manufacturers produce multifunction devices that combine scanner, color printer and a fax machine. Counterfeit money is produced through these devices in our country. Naturally, the quality of these notes is poor," he said.

Asked about distinctive features of counterfeit banknotes, Malikov said national banknotes have certain security features.

"Ordinary people may not know these features. And if they know, they will be able to check banknotes for authenticity. One can distinguish a fake from the original by discolored paper, watermarks and microtext. Just having an idea of protective features, you can avoid troubles associated with false banknotes," Malikov noted.

Malikov said that high quality forgeries of national and foreign banknotes are not made in Azerbaijan.  

"This kind of fraud is made in other countries. Some countries have previously produced counterfeit U.S. dollars on an industrial basis, for example, Iraq and North Korea. The latter still makes fake money at a very professional level. Such high-level counterfeit banknotes are not produced in Azerbaijan. We have only domestic counterfeiting," he said.

Cases of counterfeiting of foreign currency such as dollar and euro were identified in January-September 2010.

"But these cases are not common as cases of national currency. We can not say that counterfeiting of national and foreign currencies has increased compared with the previous year. In my view, we must somehow control import of devices, through which some persons produce counterfeit money, into the country. I think that if these devices are registered in a strict manner, the number of cases of counterfeit paper money will reduce in Azerbaijan,” Malikov stated.


/Day.Az/

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