The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 40, October 7, 2007, Article 21

GLASGOW MASTER COUNTERFEITER 'HOLOGRAM TAM' ARRESTED

According to a report in The Times of London, "Magic fingers
and an unerring eye gave “Hologram Tam”, one of the best
forgers in Europe, the skills to produce counterfeit
banknotes so authentic that when he was arrested nearly
£700,000 worth were in circulation.

"Thomas McAnea, 58, who was jailed for six years and four
months yesterday, was the kingpin of a professional operation
based in Glasgow that, according to police, had the capacity
to produce £2 million worth of fake notes a day – enough
potentially tom destabilise the British economy. More may
remain out there undetected.

"When detectives from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement
Agency raided his tiny print shop last January, £500,000 in
Bank of Scotland £20 notes were being printed. The gang
also had in their possession €500,000 (£350,000) in forged
notes.

"As a result of the raid, another £672,880 worth of
counterfeit notes were recovered from the banking system.
“Some of Hologram Tam's money is still out there. It's
that good that if I gave you one of his notes, you wouldn't
know it,” a police source said.

"Operation Fender began in October 2005 after a tip-off
from the Metropolitan Police that an unusually large
number of fake Bank of Scotland £20 notes were in circulation
in London. The force had also recovered a suitcase that
contained almost £3 million worth of fake euros, awaiting
watermarks and holograms. It was established that these
notes were destined for McAnea.

"Graeme Pearson, the head of the Scottish Crime and Drug
Enforcement Agency, said that McAnea, a former print union
official, “had the touch of the geek about him” and said
that he was content with the sentences. He said “People
think it's a bit of a wheeze, a B movie, producing banknotes
in your kitchen, but in actual fact what we have is
something that enables criminal gangs to profit.”"

To read the complete article, see:
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum