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While in 1998 there was a marked increase in the number of counterfeited and altered banknotes seized, in 1999 there was a decrease in counterfeited banknotes seized. (in 1998, 55,000 pieces of forged banknotes were seized). The CZK 5,000 counterfeited banknotes still remain the biggest problem of the year monitored. The situation for other forger payment documents also displays a rising trend - cheques, notes, credit cards and othre payment instruments. Forged motorway stickers stagnate, on the other hand the forgery of documents and certificates is becoming very dangerous.
While the Czech Republic has become a transit country for counterfeited money, rather than a consumer, it is becoming a power for forged documents. The principal issue is that there is no record of top copying machines in the Czech Republic, as it is in some countries in Western Europe; GO and TWIST cards for mobile phones are not registered, as for example in Switzerland.
The interest of distributors in counterfeited Czech banknotes is expected in the future. The quality of counterfeited money will be higher, and the growth in forged goods is supposed.
70 persons were lawfully sentenced for counterfeiting and altering money (Sec. 140 - 142 of the Criminal Code).
2. Crime, Development in Individual Kinds of Crime and Security Risks