6 Held in Germany in Rebuilt Euro Fraud

By JACK EWING
NYT

FRANKFURT —It was not a glamorous Hollywood-style bank heist. No tunnels. No rappelling from helicopters. Not even a single ski mask.

Just an unusually heavy carry-on bag, which a female flight attendant struggled to carry through Frankfurt’s airport after arriving from China.

But when curious customs agents took a look, they found evidence that may have helped them crack one of the biggest frauds in history against the Bundesbank, Germany’s august central bank. Authorities say the fraud has cost the bank about 6 million euros, or $8.5 million.

Inside the flight attendant’s bag, the authorities say, were thousands of 1-euro and 2-euro coins that had supposedly been scrapped after years of use but had been methodically reconstructed so they could be cashed in.

(More here.)