Arrest of Counterfeiter of $100 Bills in Qom

Ahmad Karami, the head of the Criminal Investigation Police of Qom Province, has reported the arrest of an individual in this city on charges of "counterfeiting" $100 bills. According to reports from Iran, Mr. Karami announced on November 26 that this person was "identified and arrested while converting counterfeit dollars to rials at a currency exchange." He added that the arrested individual holds "foreign nationality" and that during searches, "22 pieces of $100 bills and a significant amount of dirhams were discovered." It has not been specified which country the arrested individual is a citizen of. As stated by this police commander in Qom, "the accused has confessed to counterfeiting $100 bills and dirhams amounting to approximately 130 million rials." This Iranian police official further added that experts from the Central Bank say that "the dollars were counterfeited very skillfully, such that 7 out of 9 security features of the bills were adhered to." Article 1 of the Law on Punishments for Disruptors in the Economic System of Iran, ratified in 1989, states that disrupting the monetary or currency system of the country through large-scale currency smuggling, counterfeiting, or distributing them, whether domestic or foreign, is considered a crime and the perpetrator will be punished according to the provisions of this law. If the actions mentioned are intended to harm the Islamic Republic of Iran or to oppose it, the perpetrator will be sentenced to the punishment of "mohareb" (enemy of God). Various reports regarding the distribution of counterfeit money have been published in Iran, to which Amir Shokri, the head of the Currency and Coin Production Organization of the Central Bank, reacted in September of this year. In response to a question about the reason for the increase in counterfeit 10,000 toman bills in Iran, Mr. Shokri told the Tasnim news agency that "some counterfeit bills in the hands of people are color copies, not counterfeit." This official added, "A color copy of a bill that is recognized by people as counterfeit is not considered forgery."