A significant amount of banknotes stolen from the ATMs and bank vaults of Donbas and Luhansk region resurfaced in Moscow, according to several bankers and a law enforcement source, Forbes.ru reports.
The mediators are trying to informally exchange them with a discount, using their connections among top managers of large Moscow banks.
One of the bankers said that certain individuals had asked him to exchange several million euros, marked with blue paint. Law enforcement agencies are aware of such attempts to exchange currency, an employee of one of the offices said. This money was stolen from the offices of banks located in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People`s Republics.
It is noted that the emergence of such bills is not uncommon in Russia. ”Ukrainian banknotes took their share on the black market on a par with the money stolen from collectors or from Metallinvestbank`s cracked ATM. Sometimes, people are trying to scorch these bills in areas with paint and to exchange them as affected by fire,” an employee of one of the law enforcement agencies said.
At the same time, Russian large banks officially claim that they do not see such attempts.
The publication stresses that the banknotes marked with special paint have been obtained illegally. For example, some ATMs have special protection against burglary: there is a sensor inside the cassettes with bills that is triggered in the event of an impact or crack, and the bills are stained with indelible ink.
In addition, the National Bank of Ukraine has the instructions for the operations of the banking system in emergency situations, with which the Ukrainian banks were guided in this case. They were instructed to destroy or damage the cash with a special paint or a chemical solution in situations, when they cannot be taken out of the temporarily occupied territory.
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