The Greek newspaper Kathimerni confirmed that the authorities found 40,000 euros in banknotes stolen from the Central Bank of Benghazi in 2017, in the city of Larissa in central Greece.
The Greek newspaper explained that the authorities discovered the money a few days ago, when a man tried to exchange 40,000 euros from the Bank of Greece branch in Larissa, but the banknotes were noticeably damaged, which immediately raised suspicions and they were seized.
It continued, saying, “The signs of damage appearing on those funds were identically similar to those stolen from the Bank of Benghazi, amounting to approximately 159 million euros.”
It noted that the European Central Bank’s Banknotes Directorate informed national central banks in the European system in April 2019 about the risks of trading banknotes.
It pointed out that since 2019, more than eight cases have been seized by the Greek authorities due to the appearance of these banknotes, and other cases have also been recorded in Belgium, France and Estonia, noting that investigations revealed that these banknotes often end up in Europe via Turkey. .
It went on to say, “Estonian investigations indicate that Turkish criminal networks, in cooperation with the Russian mafia, are heavily involved in smuggling stolen banknotes.”
It concluded by saying, “The Estonian Central Bank has dealt with more than 50 relevant cases related to 1,705 banknotes stolen from Libya in recent years.”
