A COUNTERFEIT coinmaker has admitted being a key player in a multi-million pound fake money scam.

Yasin Patel, 45, of Glenfield Close, off Philips Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday to three charges in relation to the conspiracy to supply counterfeit currency.

Information from the Bank of England and the Counterfeit Currency Unit at the Serious Organised Crime Agency suggested the gang was responsible for the organised wholesale distribution of counterfeit currency running into millions of pounds across the country.

The group of men was distributing ‘extremely high quality’ counterfeit £20 notes and 50 Euro notes from London.

Patel was not only the main supplier for the North West arm, but was instrumental in making £1 and £2 coins by melting metal on his cooker into moulds, police said.

A ‘smelt’ used in the process was found at an address in Rochdale, owned by Patel.

Police claim an electro-plating technique was then used to colour the silver coins, which were used across the North West, including East Lancashire.

Patel was arrested in September at Birch Services on the M62 near Manchester, where police seized what they allege to be 6,000 fake £1 coins and £5,000 in counterfeit £20 notes from his vehicle.

The charges are the result of a year-long investigation into the nationwide supply and distribution of fake cash.

It was triggered after Bank of England experts noticed a sudden increase in the coins.

South Yorkshire Police led Operation Merge which was developed with Humberside Police and had assistance from Lancashire Constabulary, Norfolk, West Yorkshire Police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

The case was adjourned for sentencing at a later date.