Federal Counterfeiting Charges

Federal Counterfeiting Charges

Secret Service agents arrested you for counterfeiting currency, manufacturing fake bills, passing counterfeit money, or possessing equipment to produce counterfeit currency. Federal counterfeiting charges under 18 U.S.C. § 471 criminalize making, passing, or possessing counterfeit U.S. currency, securities, or obligations. Counterfeiting carries twenty years maximum. Possessing counterfeit money with intent to defraud under § 472 carries twenty years. Manufacturing counterfeit currency carries similar penalties. Even possessing materials or equipment to create counterfeit currency – plates, digital files, specialized paper, distinctive inks – violates federal law. These prosecutions target both sophisticated counterfeiting operations and individuals caught passing fake bills.

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group – a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek, who has defended counterfeiting cases for many, many years. We’ve represented defendants charged with passing counterfeit bills, accused of manufacturing fake currency, prosecuted for possessing counterfeiting equipment. Counterfeiting prosecutions vary from people caught using obviously fake bills to complex schemes involving high-quality reproductions. Understanding what constitutes counterfeit currency and what intent prosecutors must prove determines whether conduct was criminal or innocent mistake.

Types of Federal Counterfeiting Offenses

Manufacturing counterfeit currency under 18 U.S.C. § 471 criminalizes creating fake bills, coins, securities, or other government obligations. This includes digital counterfeiting using scanners and printers, traditional plate printing, or altering genuine currency to change denominations. Passing counterfeit currency under § 472 criminalizes putting fake bills into circulation with intent to defraud. Knowingly possessing counterfeit currency with intent to defraud carries same penalties as passing. Possession of counterfeiting materials under § 474 criminalizes having plates, stones, digital files, specialized paper, or equipment designed to produce counterfeit currency.

Possession of equipment includes owning scanners, printers, paper, and inks if possessed with intent to produce counterfeit currency. Producing genuine-looking currency “for educational purposes” or “as novelty items” doesn’t protect you if bills could pass as real currency. Dealing in counterfeit obligations under § 473 criminalizes buying, selling, or receiving counterfeit currency – not just passing it yourself but participating in distribution networks. Foreign currency counterfeiting is prosecuted under similar statutes when U.S. jurisdiction applies.

What Constitutes Counterfeit Currency

Counterfeit currency is currency made in resemblance of genuine currency with intent to defraud. Bills must be similar enough to genuine currency that they might deceive people. Obviously fake bills marked “not legal tender,” play money clearly distinguishable from real currency, or bills that don’t resemble genuine currency aren’t counterfeit for criminal purposes. But bills that contain security features, proper sizing, and sufficient similarity to pass casual inspection qualify as counterfeit even if experts could easily detect them.

Modern counterfeiting prosecutions target digital reproductions made with standard scanners and color printers. These bills lack sophisticated security features but can fool cashiers in quick transactions. High-quality counterfeits produced using professional printing equipment, correct paper stock, and security features closely resembling genuine bills are rare but result in enhanced sentences. Altered genuine currency – bleaching small bills and reprinting as larger denominations – is treated as counterfeiting.

Intent to Defraud

Counterfeiting requires knowledge that currency is fake and intent to defraud – accidentally receiving counterfeit bills and passing them isn’t a crime if you didn’t know they were fake. Prosecutors prove knowledge through: quality of counterfeits (obviously fake bills suggest knowledge), quantity possessed (one bad bill might be innocent, 100 fake bills shows knowledge), defendant’s statements or conduct when passing bills, attempts to conceal or flee when confronted, and possession of counterfeiting materials. Intent to defraud means attempting to pass fake bills as genuine to receive value you’re not entitled to receive.

Merely possessing counterfeit currency isn’t a crime without intent to defraud – you must intend to use the bills or transfer them to others who will use them. Collecting counterfeit currency as curiosities, possessing fake bills to show friends, or keeping counterfeit money you received without knowledge isn’t criminal. But keeping fake bills intending to eventually pass them, selling fake bills to others, or distributing counterfeits establishes intent to defraud.

Secret Service Investigations

The Secret Service investigates counterfeiting cases and conducts undercover operations to catch counterfeiters. Investigations often begin when banks detect counterfeit bills in deposits, or when retailers report suspicious currency. The Secret Service traces serial numbers on counterfeit bills to identify batches from the same source. Surveillance of suspected counterfeiters, undercover buys of fake currency, and search warrants for suspected counterfeiting operations follow. Digital evidence from computers and printers, ink and paper purchases, and financial records showing unexplained cash sources support prosecutions.

Cooperating witnesses who were part of counterfeiting operations provide testimony about manufacturing and distribution. Many counterfeiting cases involve informants making controlled purchases of fake bills while wearing wires. The Secret Service maintains a database of counterfeit currency samples to link cases and identify manufacturing sources. International cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies addresses overseas counterfeiting operations targeting U.S. currency.

Defenses to Counterfeiting Charges

Lack of knowledge – you didn’t know the bills were counterfeit, you received them in legitimate transactions and passed them believing they were genuine. No intent to defraud – you possessed counterfeit bills for legitimate purposes (collections, education, art), not to pass them as genuine. Insufficient similarity – the bills don’t sufficiently resemble genuine currency to deceive, they’re clearly marked as novelty items or reproductions. Unlawful search and seizure – Secret Service violated your Fourth Amendment rights when searching your property or seizing evidence.

Entrapment applies in cases where undercover agents induced you to participate in counterfeiting you weren’t predisposed to commit. This defense is available when government agents created the counterfeiting opportunity and you had no prior interest in making or passing fake currency. Constitutional challenges to identification procedures can suppress evidence where witnesses identified you under suggestive circumstances. These defenses require early investigation to develop evidence before trial.

Sentencing for Counterfeiting

Counterfeiting sentencing follows federal guidelines based on face value of counterfeit currency involved – not the cost to produce it but the denominated amount of fake bills. Manufacturing $50,000 in counterfeit bills triggers higher guidelines than possessing $5,000 in fake currency. More than minimal planning adds two levels. Producing or possessing counterfeit obligations that substantially resemble genuine currency adds two levels. Sophisticated means adds two levels for operations involving specialized equipment or digital counterfeiting techniques.

Sentencing ranges for substantial counterfeiting operations reach 5-8 years before criminal history calculations. Restitution is required for losses caused by passing counterfeit currency. Federal courts impose sentences at the high end of guidelines for counterfeiting operations involving significant quantities or high-quality reproductions. Mitigating factors include minor role, acceptance of responsibility, and lack of prior criminal history. But counterfeiting directed at U.S. currency is taken seriously as a threat to the monetary system.

Todd Spodek has defended counterfeiting cases throughout his career. When you’re charged with federal counterfeiting, call 212-300-5196.