Icelandic police in the capital Reykjavik are investigating a rather unique money counterfeiting case.
The story goes, according to MBL.is, that an opportunistic gentleman went into a Reykjavik convenience store on Monday and paid for his shopping with a 10,000 kronur note. Eye brows should have been raised instantly.
There is no such thing as a 10,000 kronur note in Iceland (yet). The biggest denomination is 5,000kr, and all Icelandic notes feature important historical figures from the country’s past. The new counterfeit note featured the face of current Central Bank chairman, David Oddsson.
The (probably teenage, (ed.)) shop sales clerks were apparently not quite awake. Almost incredibly, the note was accepted without question, and the man got around 7,000kr back in change!
The police confiscated the offending banknote, as well as the shop’s security surveillance videos. The identity of the forger should, therefore, not be too difficult to ascertain.
In the meanwhile, the police are reminding people that no 10,000kr banknote has ever existed in Iceland. They advise shop workers to be very careful when dealing with cash payments. They advise everybody else to stop laughing and not to get any ideas.
NOTE: Since this article was written, it has emerged that the shop sales assistant in question was a foreign national who did not yet have full knowledge of what Icelandic banknotes look like. Police now urge all Icelandic citizens of foreign origin to reacquaint themselves with the appearance of banknotes to avoid being defrauded in the future.
hahaha..hilarious !
LOL Now that is amusing. Inventing his own money.
I have to wonder what he thought when he got back change?
“paid for his shopping with a 10,000 kronur note. Eye brows should have been raised instantly.”
Why? 10000 Kronur are less than 100 Euro. That’s a common banknote in the EU. And there are even 500 Euro notes, this translates to more than 50000 Kronur.
The biggest banknote being a 5000 Kronur one seems a bit inconvenient to me. What if you have to pay a larger sum in cash, do you carry the money in a suitcase? Or in a wheelbarrow, like during the great inflation of 1923 in Germany? Btw, there were banknotes for 5, 20 50 million Marks then, and even for 5 billion Marks:
http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund-images/2008/01/23/24/599e7e73633acf185104d653cda71bd7_image_document_large_featured_borderless.jpg
Well, once inflation really gets out of hand, the old currency can’t be saved anymore.
Hmm, ok, I guess almost everybody in Iceland “pays” with a credit card instead of real money, so that’s why people don’t know how their banknotes look like. Still, that’s funny.
One other point: I don’t think it’s a good idea to risk jail for about 100 Euros. This isn’t even worth all the efforts to create the false banknotes. And now the whole Island knows the story and the con man can only use the rest of his “money” to ignite an oven with it. Hey, maybe this was only a joke, after all?
More funny picture from 1923: A shop owner, probably a butcher, finding good use for the “money” he earned:
http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund-images/2008/01/23/33/3f72c0058ecb20490148864140199665_image_document_large_featured_borderless.jpg
Kids are happy about their pocket money:
http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund-images/2008/01/23/26/11ee5b023408f9d7b362a1ed1fbf15ea_image_document_large_featured_borderless.jpg
Shop assistants were too lazy to count the banknotes:
http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund-images/2008/01/23/44/8b98b282fe066ccc32e76de7ebbd6e49_image_document_large_featured_borderless.jpg
But bank employees were working hard every single day:
http://einestages.spiegel.de/hund-images/2008/01/23/42/7a4e1b81d2d36f4f44ad0117454d859a_image_document_large_featured_borderless.jpg
There is a quite condemning tone in the article. In fact, it is a funny and intelligent way to show who is primarily responsible for the crisis. The one who had this nice idea is not a criminal, as his/her intention is not a fraud to gain money, but s/he wants to make a political comment. I am sure it is not a criminal offence in Iceland to critisize the goverment or the the chief director of the central bank
Hi Michalis,
You make a good point: I think it probably was intended as a joke and it certainly is not a crime to criticise Davíð Oddsson. However, it is a crime to steal goods and real money (7,000kr) from a shop!
It is also a crime to forge money. But my colleagues and I debated this point yesterday without success: does this count as forgery? I say it doesn’t, because the note is an original, not a copy of an existing note. My colleagues say it is closely modelled on existing money and designed to be mistake for money, therefore it is a forgery. What do you think?
Thanks for reading IceNews,
Alëx, editor
I am sure that the note in question is now worth a lot more than 10,000kr: how much would you pay for it?
Thanks for your reply, Alëx!
Legally speaking, I am sure printing and/or trying to pay with this “banknote” is illegal, one way or another. If someone has printed such a banknote just to show it to his friends or for political activism without buying something with it, it would be quite difficult to prosecute him/her.
But this is the legal part. I was referring in my comment to the fact that you are condemning this act, if I have got it right. I believe this banknote is an innovative and funny way to highlight a political view. Probably it is illegal, but a journalist is not the police, s/he is judging with broader, political criteria. Anyway, we are talking about a criminal commiting a ISK 10,000/65 euros crime; not really much money.
Hi again Michalis,
Our aim in posting the story was simply to highlight the issue and not to pass judgement on it – directly, or implied. If you got the impression that we were condemning the act, I can only apologise. In fact, my personal take on it is much the same as yours….
Thanks again for reading IceNews
Alëx
OK, thanks then for the clarification. Maybe I had misunderstood your article.
“all Icelandic citizens of foreign origin to reacquaint themselves with the appearance of banknotes to avoid being defrauded in the future.”
If you’re an Icelandic citizens (of foreign origin) you need to have lived 7 years in Iceland before acquiring the citizenship. Can you tell how on earth can’t you know how bank notes look like after 7 years?
Koben – I agree – it would be better to use “Icelandic residents of foreign origin”.
I personally consider it like a good joke – first it was succesfully presented in newspapers (and it really shows who responsible for current situation and who has helped those speculators – and still is helping – dtto fix rate of ISK, 18% interest rate – but it is for another discussion). And second – I would expect that shop assistant (even foreign origin) at till is familiar with all Icelandic banknotes (and coins). It can take few minutes to check them (and memorise) on webpages of Sedlabanki Íslands. Here is the link for other possible “shop assitansts-victims of counterfeiting”.
http://www.sedlabanki.is/?PageID=272
http://www.sedlabanki.is/?PageID=273
Anyway – good luck to Iceland – I love this country and I would die for it – and it hurts me twice if such “c–k” is leading the Cental Bank. At least – they have got good web-pages with those banknotes and coins:-)
Excessive kindness of the workers in some stores can be stupidity. Everybody knows banknotes in their countries, even emigrants: those that more!
I think, it was a political activism, but with economic yield! Jail, and only euro 60? Is it a joke?
Perhaps, he would want to put in the streets which Central Bank did not do some years before: new banknote, and higher value!!
One more comment – I wish that counterfeiter would be found, caught and jailed (for sure just for a while). He/she would became very famous – as a first political prisoner on Iceland – and I am sure that after that there would be such political and medial storm (probably even international) that finally that “c–k” would resign.
SO – I DO PLEASE THAT COUNTERFITER – TRY TO PAY ONCE AGAIN WITH THAT BANKNOTE AND LET YOURSELF JAIL – YOU WILL HELP TO ICELAND MORE THAN ANY DEMONSTRATION!!!!
Funny… from this angle the photo looks like John Belushi…
The banknote is a piece from the final project of art student Ódinn Thór Kjartansson,he displayed two full bags of the fake banknotes at Kjarvalsstadir Art Museum last spring, some banknotes were taken by people who visited the art show as souvenir. i think the counterfeiter’s main intention is to criticize David Oddsson, that’s why he used the banknotes now but not last spring
a lot of people probably would not know if they had a fake 2000 krona note as you very rarely see them.
The Police
“advise everybody else to stop laughing”
would not be out of place in a Monty Python sketch.