In the criminal case surrounding a counterfeiting gang, only Lisa P. (30) of Nijmegen faces jail time, and for a year.
This is evident from the verdicts handed down Friday by the Limburg District Court against the nine perpetrators. The judges called the making of counterfeit money reprehensible and the consequences this has for the payment system very bad.
Spin
The judges see Lisa P. as the spider in the web of the group of people from North and Central Limburg who made, bought and sold counterfeit 50-euro banknotes in 2014. The prosecution had demanded 20 months in prison against her. The judges waived a large portion of that because, in their view, the prosecution left the criminal case on the shelf for far too long unnecessarily.
Because, in legal terms, the reasonable time limit has been exceeded, Marco R. (35), who lived in Maasbree at the time, does not have to go to prison. The public prosecutor had eighteen months in store for him for making, selling and paying with counterfeit money and another twelve months for possession of firearms, but it will not come to that. R. does have to perform 240 hours of community service.
Main customer
The prosecution had asked the court to impose a 12-month prison sentence on Peter M. (38) of Roggel, the alleged chief purchaser of the counterfeit bills. The court made that six months suspended and 240 hours of community service.
The judges were lenient on the oldest suspect, the 77-year-old grandmother of Lisa P. She was cleared of prosecution given her minor role, frail health and advanced age. In her home in Helden, five suspects printed and printed 1125 50-euro bills in February 2014. The elderly woman admitted to operating the copier. The four others in her company allegedly pressed hologram stamps into the bills with irons.
The court imposed relatively light community service sentences on the co-perpetrators with lesser roles.
