Employee Who Allegedly Produced Hundreds of Thousands of Euros was Arrested in Kosovo.
By Kaila Hall
On August 6, 2024, Europol announced1 that authorities in Pristina, Kosovo had arrested an employee of the Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia for allegedly counterfeiting hundreds of thousands of €2 coins over the last two years. The suspect, a 34-year-old male, was arrested on August 4. Authorities also seized a counterfeiting currency machine as well as thousands of assembled coins, rings, and core blanks found in North Macedonia.
In the months leading up to the arrest, Kosovar and North Macedonian authorities worked with Europol and Eurojust to launch a joint investigation team (JIT) and share critical intelligence on the suspect’s activities. Participants in the JIT included the Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo, the Basic Prosecution in Skopje, and Eurojust’s Western Balkans Criminal Justice Project. Additionally, the Kosovo Police, the Investigative Centre of the Public Prosecutor’s Office Skopje, and the Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia conducted investigative activities.
In May 2023, Eurojust launched2 the Western Balkans Criminal Justice Project to “enhance judicial cooperation within and with the Western Balkans.” The initiative also “aims to strengthen judicial cooperation within the Western Balkans as well as between the region and the EU in the fight against organised crime and terrorism.” Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are involved in this project. Given Kosovo’s volatile political situation and increased threats of terrorism, Eurojust’s ability to initiate and coordinate JITs is critical.
To combat euro counterfeiting, Europol also provides intelligence and operational support to investigations on behalf of the European Union Central Office. Europol utilizes advanced technology to identify and target counterfeiting networks. The European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT),3 which “strengthens intelligence, strategic and operational” cross-border cooperation, funded the investigation.
News of this latest euro counterfeiting operation in the Republic of Kosovo comes as the nation grapples with increasing currency counterfeiting in recent years. Although Kosovo is not in the Eurozone, it adopted the euro as its currency in 2002. As of September 2023, the Pristina Police’s forensic laboratory announced it had examined over 30,000 fake 2-euro coins- a drastic increase compared to 4,451 coins confiscated last year.4 In April 2023, police arrested two individuals for trying to smuggle over 10,000 counterfeit coins into Kosovo from North Macedonia.
In January 2023, the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo issued5 a warning to consumers as a result of counterfeit coins in circulation. The Central Bank reiterated that “counterfeiting money is a criminal offense and is sanctioned according to Article 296 of the Criminal Code No. 06/L-074 of the Republic of Kosovo and Articles 19 and 20 of Law No. 03/L-209 on Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo, anyone who produces, puts into circulation, transports, accepts, uses or possesses counterfeit money to put it into circulation as genuine, is punished by a fine or imprisonment.”
Kaila Hall is an intern at IELR. She is a rising senior at Cornell University.
[1] Europol (2024). Employee of the Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia arrested in Kosovo* for euro counterfeiting, Europol Media & Press,
[2] Eurojust (2023). Launch of new project to enhance judicial cooperation within and with the Western Balkans, Eurojust Press Releases and News,
[3] Eurojust (2024). EMPACT, Eurojust https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/empact
[4] Fatos Bytyci (2023). Kosovo so awash with fake euro coins they are accepted as payment, Reuters,
[5] Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (2023). The Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo gives additional instructions for increased caution from counterfeit coins in circulation, Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo
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