On February 27, 2020, within the framework of counteracting the spread of counterfeit banknotes, the Department of Monetary Affairs of the National Bank of Ukraine held a training seminar on the topic “Determining the authenticity and solvency of national and foreign currency banknotes”.
Victoriia Kulykovska, the Head of the Questioned Document Examination Department of the Criminalistics Laboratory and Serhii Naumenko, the Chief Forensic Expert of the same Department visited the event.
Within the course of the seminar, the participants considered reports on the following topics:
- Current issues and status of withdrawal of counterfeit currency from circulation;
- Characteristic features of the most dangerous printing counterfeits of hryvnia banknotes and counterfeits made in a reproducible way;
- Characteristics of the main elements of protection of US dollar and euro banknotes;
- Features of identification of so-called “super fakes”;
- The main option and the characteristic features of counterfeiting foreign currency seized in Ukraine;
- The main criteria for determining the payment characteristics of banknotes (coins) of the national currency;
- Cutting and combining parts of banknotes for the purpose of fraud;
- Banknotes with manufacturing defects.
“Such scientific and practical meetings help establish business contacts, exchange information and help to understand current industry news. Employees of the National Bank of Ukraine receive a lot of information about fake banknotes, have the opportunity to systematize it, identify problematic aspects and, together with colleagues, find approaches and methods for solving them,” said Viktoriia Kulykovska.
Serhii Naumenko, the representative of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise noted that one of the main tasks of the employees of the National Bank of Ukraine is to develop protection elements for domestic banknotes, as well as an analysis of cases of counterfeiting domestic banknotes of past years. Experts in this case can help with relevant research.
The practical training of real, fake and significantly damaged currency with the use of currency detectors was the important stage of the seminar.
In the closing remarks, the speakers provided universal advice on identifying fake banknotes for employees of institutions and enterprises who are unable to use high-quality technical equipment, and advised experts to seek help in all controversial issues.
