French police arrest actress Catherine Deneuve's grandson as mafia counterfeiting gang smashed
European police have dismantled a counterfeit money printing gang with links to a mafia clan, arresting 44 people, including a grandson of French acting icon Catherine Deneuve.
Igor Divetain was one of three suspects arrested in France, a source close to the case said.
Forty suspects were also arrested in Italy, and one in Belgium in the culmination of a years-long investigation coordinated by policing agency Europol, according to France's OCRFM, the branch of the police force dealing with counterfeiting.
Police also seized €8 million in cash and the same value in property.
The group had ties to the Camorra mafia clan of southern Italy, said the OCRFM.
They are suspected of having produced counterfeit money, mainly 50-euro notes, with a face value of some €10 million.
"For several years now, 90 percent of high-quality counterfeit currency (in circulation) has come from Italy," Eric Bertrand of the OCRFM told AFP.
"The Camorra have a sort of monopoly on this market."
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Igor Divetain was one of three suspects arrested in France, a source close to the case said.
Forty suspects were also arrested in Italy, and one in Belgium in the culmination of a years-long investigation coordinated by policing agency Europol, according to France's OCRFM, the branch of the police force dealing with counterfeiting.
Police also seized €8 million in cash and the same value in property.
The group had ties to the Camorra mafia clan of southern Italy, said the OCRFM.
They are suspected of having produced counterfeit money, mainly 50-euro notes, with a face value of some €10 million.
"For several years now, 90 percent of high-quality counterfeit currency (in circulation) has come from Italy," Eric Bertrand of the OCRFM told AFP.
"The Camorra have a sort of monopoly on this market."
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