Experts from the Questioned Documents Examination Department and experts from branches of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine had a training and practical course from specialists of the Secret Service of the United States of America.
The theme of the event was the study of US dollars in order to determine of its authenticity or counterfeit. Representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine also joined the training.
In his welcoming address, Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise noted that counterfeiting of banknotes and documents is a common crime, the spread of which is associated with the availability and continuous improvement of modern copying equipment.
“As part of the technical examination of documents, experts of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise examine the structure of the paper from which the notes are made, security elements, their compliance with the content and properties, the design of the notes, as well as their special infrared and magnetic protective marks and other features”, noted Oleksandr Ruvin and added that the work of the participants in the training and practical course will help to improve the professional level of Ukrainian experts and will help to learn the best expertise of foreign colleagues.
In the introductory address, John Liau, US Secret Service Attaché from Tallinn’s office, told the participants about the history and modern mission of the agency. So, the US Secret Service was created in the 19th century due to the rampant counterfeiters and the prediction of a possible financial collapse of the country. As the main way to combat such crimes, a special structure has been established to extract fake money from circulation and to prosecute those who produce counterfeited money.
The main tasks of the US Secret Service today are to prevent the forgery of American money, debt, other valuable documents, as well as the protection of the US President, US Vice President, their immediate relatives, other senior officials, former presidents and their families, presidential candidates and vice President, representatives of foreign states during their visits. The Secret Service also investigates various types of financial fraud, identity theft and helps to investigate some internal crimes.
Irina Geiman, Document Analyst, presented two keynote presentations to the audience on the following topics: “Characteristics of genuine US currency” and “Detection of counterfeit US currency”.
It was about the security features of banknotes (paper composition, watermarks, paint, protective fibers and serial number) and identifying the most common ways to counterfeit them. Participants consolidated the oral reports of the speakers by conducting practical exercises.
The final stage of the training and practical course was the work in the “question-answer” format on all interesting discussion topics that arose during the event. Participants had the opportunity to clarify and summarize important issues, share their own expert experience and listen to the opinion of colleagues.
Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensics Expertise expresses its gratitude to the Secret Service of the United States of America and the National Bank of Ukraine for cooperation and looks forward to continued joint expert and scientific-practical work in the future.
