BERLIN – In a unique kind of fraud; Bundesbank sustained a loss of six million euros (£5.3m), reportedly due to fake euro coins of denomination of one- and two-euro exchanged for banknotes at the Bundesbank - the central bank.
Coins were damaged due for melting down in Germany and reportedly have been sold to buyers in China as scrap material, then welded back together, flown back to Germany and put back into circulation ultimately.
Police carried out raids in Frankfurt and three other central German towns to detain six people, four of them ethnic Chinese, suspected to be involved in this first of its kind scam. Police also recovered three tonnes of broken coins, a coin-welding machine and computers.
A statement from the Hessen state prosecutor's office on Thursday said Bundesbank employees were not under suspicion.
According to police investigation; the culprits were assisted by four flight attendants who were involved to bring fake coins into Germany because they were not subject to baggage weight restrictions.
Reportedly this operation of transferring the fake coins, involving 29 tonnes of coins, supposedly took place from 2007 to November 2010.
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