Greek Ministry of Justice Dimitris Koulaxizis A COMMUNITY STRATEGY TO PROTECT THE EURO Effectiveness of Anti-counterfeiting legislation in Greece

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1 1) European Legal Framework and the Greek anti-counterfeiting legislation 2) Data on offences that were prosecuted by the Athens-Piraeus Public Prosecutor s Offices

2 European Legal Framework EC Regulation No. 1338/2001 laying down measures necessary to protect the euro against counterfeiting. EC Regulation No. 44/2009 amending Regulation EC No 1338/2001. EC Regulation No. 1339/2001 to extend the effects of Regulation (EC) No. 1338/2001 laying down measures necessary to protect the euro against counterfeiting to those Member States which have not adopted the euro as their single currency. EC Regulation No. 45/2009 amending Regulation EC No. 1339/2001 Act of the number 2484/

3 In view of the adoption and circulation of euro banknotes and coins in Greece in January 2002, the National Legislator introduced law No. 2948/2001, which transformed the penal code regarding this area (counterfeiting). Article 207 of the Greek penal code prohibits counterfeiting (coins and banknotes, domestic and foreign currency) and penalises this illegal act with imprisonment of at least ten years and a fine. When the counterfeiting in not of an amount of high value, the applicable penalty range is at least 3 months of imprisonment and a fine. According to article 208 a person who circulates counterfeit money is penalised by the same as above penalties of imprisonment and fine. (see paragraph No. 2 of this Article for lighter cases of counterfeiting that carry a mitigated penalty)

4 Commitment of the offence of counterfeiting inside the Greek Mint is penalised by the same penalities as in the previous cases (Article 208A of the penal code). Preparatory acts are in general not penalised according to the general rule of Article 42 of the penal code, however in the case of counterfeiting of money they are, by imprisonment of at least one year and a fine (Article 211 of the penal code). All the above mentioned offenses of counterfeit and their punishment are equally applicable to banknotes, coins, bonds, shares, dividend coupons and bond coupons (Article 214 of the penal code). When the offense is committed by an individual acting on behalf of a legal person it is penalised by an administrative fine that may reach up to 1 million euro and any kind of activity of this legal person may be prohibited.

5 Data on the commitment of counterfeiting in Greece According to data from the Public Prosecutor s Office in Athens since the introduction of the euro in Greece in 2002, the following counterfeit offenses have been criminally prosecuted: In 2002, 19 cases, for 3 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount In 2003, 130 cases (an explosion of figures regarding counterfeit due to the recent introduction of the euro and the public s inability, due to lack of experience, to identify the security characteristics of the euro ) In 2004, 14 cases, for 1 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount In 2005, 15 cases, for 5 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount In 2006, 16 cases, for 8 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount

6 Data on the commitment of counterfeiting in Greece In 2007, 14 cases, for 1 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount In 2008, 12 cases, for 3 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount In 2009 (data up to 20/11/09), 12 cases, for 6 of which the counterfeiting was of an amount According to data from the Public Prosecutor s Office in Piraeus between 2002 and 2009, a total of 18 counterfeit offenses have been criminally prosecuted Concerning the circulation of counterfeit banknotes during this time interval, lawsuits and accusations have been submitted to the above mentioned prosecutor s office from private individuals, banks etc. (the majority of which concerns amounts of low value, about 1900 cases, while it is not known how many in total were criminally prosecuted)