Counterfeit cheque gang is busted

A £10 MILLION counterfeit cheque gang has been busted by police following raids in Scotland and Yorkshire.

Printers and printing equipment, as well as heroin and crack cocaine, were seized in Blantyre, Glasgow, and Hamilton, as well as south of the Border.

Police also recovered about 100 books, each with up to 50 counterfeit cheques, which they believe would have been used in frauds worth more than £5m.

The fraud worked by cheques being paid into bank accounts and then cashed before they could be found to be counterfeit.

The investigation was led by the Dedicated Cheque and ­Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU), which is run jointly by the City of London and Metropolitan police forces, with support from officers in Scotland.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Carter, head of DCPCU, said: “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 … will travel far and wide in pursuit of those we believe are responsible.”