Azernews.Az

Investigators have ascertained that a criminal group engaged in forging money is operating in the country. 38-year old Zamanat Valiyev and his 35-year-old driver Elman Babayev were detained in a special operation after being caught red-handed while trying to exchange 109,800 manats ($130,000) for legal banknotes.
During a search conducted at the apartment Valiyev was renting in the Jeyranbatan settlement outside Baku, law enforcers impounded a printer and a 100-manat banknote used as a sample to make counterfeit cash. He was using regular paper, a ruler and a special cutting tool to carve money.
Valiyev testified after the arrest that he had succeeded in exchanging 10,000 fake manats for real banknotes worth 4,000 manats. With the aid of his relatives, he had released the money into circulation at major trade centers in Baku, Sumgayit as well as Lankaran and other regions.
Valiyev, who served in special troops in the early 1990s, was convicted for three years in 1993 for unprovoked use of force against citizens. He subsequently served a four-year jail term for stealing equipment from the Baku airport.