Father and sons in fake cash scam

John and Craig Farrell pleaded guilty to producing counterfeit cash

A South Lanarkshire businessman and his two sons have pleaded guilty to producing and passing off thousands of pounds of counterfeit money.

John Farrell, 51, and his 23-year-old son Craig admitted making the notes at EWM Solutions in East Kilbride between September 2007 and February last year.

His other son Paul Farrell, 20, and employee, Gordon Grainger, 20, admitted passing off fake notes as genuine.

Sentence on the four men was deferred at the High Court in Glasgow.

The court heard how the counterfeit operation was uncovered when some of the fake notes passed by Grainger were traced back to Mr Farrell's company.

Business problems

The businessman initially denied printing counterfeit currency and claimed he was undertaking a business venture in order to produce a banknote which could not be copied.

But after police found fake notes at his home in Thorntonhall near East Kilbride, he admitted counterfeiting due to cash flow problems with his business.

The court also heard how the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland had recovered a total of £185,570 worth of the counterfeit notes which were in circulation.

Judge Lord Turnbull granted all four men bail and deferred sentence until next month for background reports.