While it is becoming harder to counterfeit Canadian currency because of new security features on the money, the Bank of Canada has made a compact disk available to Crown prosecutors entitled “Prosecuting Counterfeiting Offences.”
Farid Salji, Bank of Canada analyst in the Vancouver region, tells Law Times that while the total value of counterfeit currency has continued to decline, in 2008 there was a sharp increase in the value of notes being passed.
“In 2007, 90 per cent were $5, $10, and $20 notes and in 2008, they did mainly $100 and $20 bills most of the time,” he says, adding that the Bank of Canada offers training sessions held in conjunction with the RCMP.
But, as an aid to prosecutors, the Bank of Canada has produced a CD, which contains five parts: background material, investigative materials, trial materials, sentencing material, and sentencing precedents which set out numerous cases.
The CD can be obtained from the Bank of Canada offices across Canada.
