May.22, 2010, Source: Daily Post

FAKE bank notes with a face value of £350,000 were found stashed at a farmhouse.

Police arrested three men, including a 56-year old man from North Wales, after they uncovered the counterfeit cash in a raid at converted farm buildings near Connah’s Quay.

They also found hi-tech equipment which could be used in the production of fake banknotes, at the isolated Bryn Saer Farm, Golftyn Lane.

The large scale sting came after West Yorkshire Police seized £250,000 worth of fake notes from a Range Rover on the M62 motorway near Saddleworth Moor on Wednesday.

Officers arrested a 60-year-old man from Bradford on suspicion of money laundering offences.

Further investigations led them to the North Wales farm, where yesterday police, counterfeit currency agents from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and Bank of England staff spent the day gathering evidence.

Bags of fake cash and equipment were laid out in the courtyard of the smart converted farm house as about half a dozen officers catalogued it.

Last night West Yorkshire police confirmed a 56-year-old North Wales man had been arrested.

He was held in custody for questioning and will be taken to Leeds Magistrates Court today when officers will ask for permission to hold him in custody until Monday morning.

Two other men, both from Leeds and aged 28 and 38 were also arrested.

They had both failed to appear at Leeds Crown Court earlier this month in connection with separate offences, and a warrant had been issued for their arrest.

North Wales police Inspector Iwan Jones, speaking at the scene, said: “There is a mixture of agencies here but I'd like to reassure the public that operations of this nature are rare, and don't impact the integrity of the currency overall.

“The police service continues to be vigilant and we would urge the public to report any suspicious looking currency to us.”

A Bank of England spokesman moved to reassure people that massive money laundering operations do not damage the “integrity of the pound” overall.

He said: “Compared with the average number of genuine banknotes in circulation, of over 2.3 billion notes, the incidence of counterfeiting remains very low.

“During calendar year 2008 the number of counterfeit Bank of England banknotes taken out of circulation was around 686,000.”