The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit has dismantled what is believed to be one of the UK’s biggest counterfeit cheque crime groups. Last week officers from the DCPCU, City of London Police and West Yorkshire Police arrested five men and two women. Around 100 chequebooks were seized, each containing up to 50 cheques, with the potential to yield in excess of £5 million worth of fraud.

Numerous printers and printing materials that could be used to forge cheques, and a sizeable quantity of crack cocaine and heroin, were also found in 22 addresses and a vehicle that were searched. Detectives have been investigating a counterfeiting network for months and suspect they could have been making up to £50,000 a week using counterfeit cheques, potentially netting up to £10 million in total.

The Head of DCPCU, DCI Dave Carter, says: “A decline in counterfeit cheque fraud ironically left a chink in the door, with criminals now combining old techniques with the specialist purchasing powers of the internet to really cash-in on a general lack of public awareness of cheque security. But these arrests send out a strong message across the UK to members of the public and criminals. The DCPCU is alive to the threat of counterfeit cheques, we take it very seriously, and will travel far and wide in pursuit of those we believe are responsible.”

The five men, three aged 32, and one 33 and 30, and the two women, 31 and 29 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. They were questioned in West Yorkshire police stations and later released on bail.

Share Story: