Junge Bursch (photo) is a 19-year-old Austrian man from Vorarlberg who is being investigated for ordering and using counterfeit money from the darknet. His motivation for the crime was competing financially with his group of friends. However, the court affidavit states that the young man had a stable job with a salary of €1500.

“In my circle of acquaintances money played a big role,” said the 19-year-old.

The money was sent from Styria, Austria for an equivalent price in bitcoin of 145 euros which bought him 30 fake €50 banknotes. Because the suspect ordered the illegal notes from his mother’s laptop without proper security protocols, the police had little problems identifying both the buyer and the seller, who is also under penal inquiry. The Styrian counterfeiter was nicknamed “Gomorra” on the deep web and produced the bills himself in his workshop.

Junge Bursch tried to use the fake money at a bar in Feldkirch, but the barista became suspicious of the texture of the money and called the police.

Upon his arrest, the police found only 16 of the 30 fake €50 bills, the rest of the 14 banknotes are missing. Counterfeiting is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment, but the young adult is lucky as he’ll be judged as an adolescent.

“It was the stupidest idea I’ve ever had,” says the boy, who earned at least 1500 euros net monthly.

Now he has a criminal record and a sanction of six months of probation. There was also an unconditional fine of 1440 euros. However, the judgment is not final.

SOURCE: https://www.vol.at/vorarlberg-falschgeld-im-darknet-eingekauft/6061738