John Stanley gets suspended sentence for counterfeit notes

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Judge Martin Nolan imposed a four-year prison sentence, suspended in full for four years, on John Stanley at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for producing counterfeit €50 notes. The proceedings were reported on 2 March 2015.

Stanley pleaded guilty to producing the counterfeit notes. The charge concerned production at Baldoyle Industrial Estate before 17 April 2014.

The report said Stanley printed €3.3 million worth of notes. Gardaí found 49 boxes containing notes in various stages of production. Only €9,250 worth were finished and ready for distribution. Detective Sergeant Padraig Boyce said only 180 notes had all the security features.

The court heard that Stanley abandoned the operation before distributing the notes and destroyed some of the printing templates. Judge Martin Nolan said the fact that Stanley had not put the notes into circulation was the only thing saving him from prison.

Defence counsel Caroline Biggs SC said Stanley was under severe financial pressure, including a €2 million judgment against him. His counsel said he had planned to destroy the remaining notes but could not do so without attracting attention.