Two Frenchmen have been sentenced to ten years for counterfeit banknotes and are appealing to the Court of Cassation

Sentenced last Monday by the Court of Appeal of Marrakech to ten years in prison for possession of counterfeit banknotes and attempted currency trading, two Frenchmen yesterday announced their appeal to the Court of Cassation. Their lawyer, Henri Carpentier, confirmed to Ouest-France that he had referred the case to the highest court because he believed the punishment would be “disproportionate”. At first instance, the two suspects were sentenced to twelve years in prison. After appeal, the court adjusted this sentence downwards.

Citizens Arthur L. and Dylan F. were arrested in Morocco at the end of last year after showing up at a currency exchange office. The banknotes in their possession were found to be counterfeit, leading to their arrest for attempted currency counterfeiting. Citing relatives of the suspects, local media in France describe “a state of astonishment” among the two involved.

In France, the Criminal Code punishes the counterfeiting or falsification of legal tender issued by foreign or international institutions authorized to do so with thirty years’ imprisonment and a fine of 450,000 euros (Article 442-1). Article 442-2 of the same text provides that “when transporting, putting into circulation or retaining for the purpose of putting into circulation, false or forged monetary tokens referred to in the first paragraph of Article 442-1 or monetary tokens referred to as irregularly manufactured products in Article 442-1, second paragraph of this article, shall be punished with ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.

In Morocco, counterfeiting and trafficking in national currency or currencies are considered by the Criminal Code to be very serious crimes, punishable by life imprisonment (Article 334). Article 335 of the same text also provides for life imprisonment against anyone who “knowingly participated in the issuance, distribution, sale or introduction into the territory” of counterfeit money, counterfeit securities, vouchers or obligations referred to in the previous article.

To avoid the circulation of notes that may be the result of human trafficking and to ensure the traceability of any monetary transaction, regulatory authorities recommend that users, especially tourists, contact authorized currency exchange offices.

Regarding the victims of counterfeit money, the first paragraph of Article 338 of the Moroccan Penal Code provides that “anyone who, after believing it to be authentic, has received counterfeit metal or paper money shall not be punished, falsified, altered or colored, puts them into circulation again, in ignorance of their vice.”