Forger linked to 11 million euros of fake notes arrested in Italy, Europol says

PARIS (Reuters) - A forger suspected of printing 11 million euros' ($12 million) worth of fake bank notes was arrested in the Italian city of Naples last week, European police body Europol said on Monday.

Europol said the man who was arrested, whom it did not name, had already sold 8 million euros' worth of fake notes across Europe and added that police seized nearly 3 million euros of fake notes when they raided his Naples printing site.

"Furthermore, the arrested counterfeiter is believed to be responsible for over 27% of all faked euro banknotes discovered and taken out of circulation in 2023 alone," Europol said.

Europol, which is headquartered in The Hague, said French police were also involved in the arrest because the forger had circulated many of the fake notes through France.

($1 = 0.9058 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson)