Tip-off led police to money forging operation

An undercover police officer known as Jamie went to the pub in Immingham in September 2008 after receiving a tip-off that forged cash was being offered for sale.

There he met local man Terence Quinn, who agreed to supply him with counterfeit money – and so gave the police access to a thriving illegal operation with bases in Yorkshire, London, Norfolk and Greater Manchester.

Sheffield Crown Court heard yesterday the meeting was the start of a year-long covert surveillance operation which culminated in eight men pleading guilty to counterfeiting charges.

Richard Clews, prosecuting, told the court: "Plainly the officer known as Jamie undertook a considerable amount of difficult work, long-running work, on his own sometimes and in difficult circumstances, but his work has resulted in the recovery of a substantial amount of counterfeit currency."

The investigation required Jamie to make requests for fake money and to follow group members across the country as they fulfilled his wishes.

Counterfeit currency was handed over in several locations in the region including Goole, Barnsley, the Hartshead Moor and Ferrybridge service stations on the M62, the junction of the M18 and the M180 in South Yorkshire, and a viewing point near the Humber Bridge.

The group was also involved in transactions in London, Greater Manchester and Cambridgeshire.

The fake money – 20 and 50 euro notes plus 2 and 1 coins – would usually be sold for a third of its face value, often for less.

Police were unable to find the printing press which was used to manufacture the notes, although officers believe it to be in London, but they did discover the smelt which Yasin Patel was using to make forged coins from a garden shed in Rochdale.

The hearing was told that, of all the men in the dock, Derrick Davies, who owned a large farmhouse in Norfolk, was closest to the source of the forged notes.

He did not hand any fake money to Jamie personally, the court heard, but he was present when some of the deals were made and was therefore involved in the passing of currency with a face value of 158,000.

Similarly, Davies's London-based acquaintance Peter Edwards was involved in the passing of fake money worth 138,640, even though he did not hand over the money personally.

Patel was involved in the passing of fake money with a face value in the region of 134,000, including about 80,000 in counterfeit coins which he made himself.

He told police he had been dealing in fake notes for "a number of years" and the court heard he had been jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2006 for having counterfeit coins with intent.

The hearing was told that Davies, Edwards and Patel supplied fake money to Malcolm Moate, who would drive from his Barnsley home to collect it.

In nine months Moate was involved in the passing of fake money with a face value of more than 180,000, and carried on offending even after his arrest.

Quinn and Norman Oliver, from Goole, were each involved in the passing of fake cash worth more than 10,000 to Jamie.

Michael Maddon never handed forged money to the undercover officer but he was present when Oliver passed items with a face value of 2,740 to the officer in October 2008 and he stored more counterfeit notes in his Leeds home.

Michael Kinghorn, of Barnsley, came to police attention when he was seen exchanging goods with Patel at a location on the A637 near Huddersfield.

He was later found to have been spray-painting coins on Patel's behalf and the court heard he might have been involved with fake money worth more than 82,000.