Don't Mistake a Printer for a Money Press": A Final Warning Letter to Forgers from the Anti-Counterfeiting Paper Industry

We are manufacturers engaged in the R&D and compliant production of anti-counterfeiting printing and security paper products. Every day, we work with printing plates, security threads, fluorescent fibers, and QR-code traceability systems. We understand better than anyone just how convincing a piece of paper can be made to look — and we also understand, better than anyone:Anyone who attempts to use printing equipment to forge currency, deposit certificates, financial instruments, or negotiable securities will never end up rich — their destination is always the detention center.

I. What You Think Is "Small-Time Business" Is Actually a String of Felonies Under the Criminal Law

Per the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (NPC.gov.cn public text):


  • Article 170 — Crime of Counterfeiting Currency：Whoever forges currency shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, plus a fine. If the circumstances are especially serious — such as being a ringleader in a counterfeiting syndicate, counterfeiting on a particularly massive scale, or other especially serious circumstances — the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment, or death, plus a fine or confiscation of property.

  • Article 177 — Crime of Forging or Altering Financial Instruments：Whoever forges or alters a bill of exchange, promissory note, cheque, bank deposit certificate, letter of authorization, certificate of deposit, letter of credit, credit card, or other financial instrument shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, plus a fine; if the circumstances are serious, to not less than five years but not more than ten years, plus a fine; if especially serious, to not less than ten years or life imprisonment, plus a fine or confiscation of property. Where a unit commits this offense, the unit shall be fined, and its directly responsible personnel shall be punished under the same article.

  • Article 178 — Crime of Forging or Altering State-Issued Negotiable Securities：Whoever forges or alters state-issued securities such as treasury bonds, stocks, or corporate bonds shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, plus a fine; if the amount involved is huge, to not less than three years but not more than ten years, plus a fine; if especially huge, to not less than ten years or life imprisonment, plus a fine or confiscation of property. Forging or altering corporate stocks or bonds shall be punished under the same article with corresponding thresholds.

Note: The Criminal Law does not require that you "actually succeed in defrauding anyone." The offense is complete — actus reus established — the moment a counterfeit item is produced that imitates the design, color, and shape of genuine currency or a genuine financial instrument.

II. Real Sentences: They Were Only One Printer Away from Losing Ten Years of Freedom

Case 1 | Haikou, Hainan: Wang’s Case of Counterfeiting RMB

Wang spent 500 yuan buying a “counterfeiting tutorial” online, then purchased a printer, ink, security paper, and digital copper molds. He forged RMB notes ranging from 10 to 100 yuan, totaling 37,640 yuan. The Longhua District Court in Haikou found the amount “particularly huge” and sentenced him to 10 years in prison and a 10,000-yuan fine​ under Article 170 of the Criminal Law.

Case 2 | Jiangxi: Xu & He (Couple) Counterfeiting Case

The couple bought templates online, used a printer to copy, cut, and dry 100-yuan counterfeit notes, with the amount deemed “particularly huge.” The court sentenced the principal offender to 10 years and 2 months​ and the accomplice to 3 years and 8 months.

Case 3 | Hecheng, Hunan: Foreign Currency Counterfeiting Case​

Yang X sheng commissioned the private printing of 2,400 USD/JPY notes (equivalent to 1.48 million RMB) and sold them to Yang X rong; Yang X rong resold them for 4.67 million RMB. Each was sentenced to 11 years in prison, one year of deprivation of political rights, and a 100,000-yuan fine。

Case 4 | Bank Deposit Certificate Forgery Linked to Theft​

Wang forged a bank deposit certificate to withdraw cash and was discovered. The court convicted him of both the crime of forging financial instruments and theft, imposing a combined sentence of 3 years and 6 months and a 33,000-yuan fine.

III. A Few Hard Truths for Those Still Searching for "Anti-Counterfeiting Paper Sources

If you go online searching "where to buy security paper" or "which paper is closest to RMB," we, as a compliant manufacturer, will uniformly reject the order, log the inquiry, and reserve the right to report it to the police.​ There are three reasons:

  1. Genuine security paper leaves the factory with contracts, filings, traceability codes, and verified recipient credentials — its flow is controllable.

  2. The Criminal Law targets the "act," not the "scale" — forging even one counterfeit bill is a crime; buying a single batch of counterfeit base material makes you part of the accomplice chain.

  3.  Today, every bank, supermarket, and vending machine is wired into UV + magnetic + serial-code + AI cash verification. The average counterfeit note is intercepted within fewer than three hand-offs. What you end up holding is not cash — it is a prison sentence.

A Final Word of Advice:

To anyone in the industry reading this who is hesitating — "Should I try it just once with one machine?" — Don't.

Three years is the starting line. Ten years is common. Life imprisonment is not far off.

You have printing skills. Use them for compliant packaging, anti-counterfeiting labels, and secure document printing. The profits are clean. And you'll sleep at night.