Forgery and Counterfeiting

Forgery

• Defined as the intent to defraud
• Punishable to maintain integrity of the Philippines

Making Paper Money

• Engraving: Lines are cut into pieces in this process
• Letterpress Printing: The most common form of printing
• Offset Printing: Achieved when a photograph is taken

Bank Note Paper

• Paper bank notes get a lot of handling

Counterfeit

• Defined as an imitation of something

Coins

• Pieces of metal stamped by the government

Making Coins

• Casting: the most common method for coin creation
• Plaster: Utilized to create molds bearing an image
• Striking or Stamping: The making of an impression

Characteristics of Coins

• Genuine coins show a flow of metallic grains
• Counterfeit coins are greasy and slimy

Counterfeit Metal Money or Coins

• Made of gold but are often seen

Examination of Counterfeit Coins

• Use a magnifying lens to examine
• Comparing a suspected coin with a known genuine coin
• Edges: Best place to examine counterfeit coins because they have special milling marks

Counterfeit Passport

• Rarely counterfeited, complicated in design

Crimes Called Forgeries

• Art. 161: Forging seal of government involves forging the signature/stamp of the president
• Art. 163: Counterfeiting coins that is false and counterfied if not authorized by government
• Art. 164: Mutilation of coins
• Art. 165: Forging treasury
• Art. 167: Counterfeiting instruments
• Art. 171: Falsification of public officer
• Art. 172: Falsification of a legislative document
• Art. 173: Falsification of wireless cable
• Art. 174: Falsification of a medical cert

Definitions

• Import: to bring into port
• Utter: to pass counterfeit coins
• Mutilation: to take off parts
• Imitating (Feigning): from the Spanish "fingiendo," means imitation, "to feign" means to present a false appearance

Obligations/Securities of the Philippines

• Bonds
• Certificates of indebtedness
• National bank notes
• Coupons
• Treasury notes
• Fractional notes
• Certificated deposits
• Bills
• Checks
• Drafts for money
• Other representatives

Falsification

• Counterfeiting or imitating a signature
• Person have participated even not
• Attributing actions to persons who did not participate
• Making untruthful statements
• Altering true dates
• Alteration or intercalation
• Issuing in an authenticated form
• Intercalating any instrument

Documents May Be Simulated

• Falsification of public documents
• Stimulation of public documents

Requisites of Counterfeiting Signatures

• Intent to imitate
• Two signatures bearing some resemblance

Week 8

• Anachronism: something out of place or time, represents difficulty for forgers
• Paper: Consists of sheets or interlaced fiber
• Watermark: Certain papers marked with translucent designs by the manufacturer, first appeared in 1270 in Italy

Tracing the Age of Paper

• Estimated through paper examination

Historical Development of Paper

• Oldest written record: Sumerian clay tablet from 4 millennium BC
• Papyrus: 3500 BC, Egypt, Palestine- Pith (soft spongy tissues of stem) sedge (grass life herb).
• Parchment: Made from the skin of animals like sheep, calves, and goats
• Vellum: Made from the fine skin of young calves or kids

Development of Paper Manufacturing

• Cai Lun: Widely known for claim invention of paper from vegetable fibers
• Paper making was kept secret for 500 years
• 7th century: The Japanese acquired paper-making techniques
• Arab City of Samarkand: Attacked by Chinese in A.D. 751

Paper Manufacturing Continues

• Middle East: papermaking travelled westward
• 16th century: Technology spread quickly
• England 1495: first paper mill
• America 1690: first paper mill
• Nicholas Louis Robert: Invented the first practical machine
• Henry Fourdrinier & Sealy: improved Robert's machine
• Ground Wood Process: First chemical pulp process discovered
• Chlorine: used for bleaching
• Esparto: a grass grown in Libya
• Straw: used to make paper in 1800
• Sulphite: paper from wood
• Oldest Manuscript: Letters dated A.D. 874
• Dandy Roll: wires on rollers, wear and tear causes damage

Discoloration

• Occurs over time due to moisture, temperature, and dust

Causes of Discoloration

• Due to the process of oxidation
• Brown spots due to molds
• Exposure to dust and dirt
• Occasional staining from fruit juice or grease
• May also occur due to heat or partial burning

Detailed Examination of Writing Material

• Collect a standard document from the issuing institution, company, or individual and compare it.
• Check with the issuing institution or company
• Conduct further physical or chemical examination

Week 9: Writing Instruments

• Manual devices are used to make alphanumeric marks on a surface
• Pen: a tool for writing with a colored fluid coming from the Latin word "Penna", which means feather
• Pen Nibs: the two divisions or points
• Ink: a fluid viscous marking

Historical Background of Writing Instruments

• Reed Pens/Swamp Reed: came from especially selected water grasses in Egypt
• Quill Pen: a hollow, horny part
• Steel Point Pens (Branzen): made from horn, tortoise shell, and gemstones
• Fountain Pens: invented in 1884 by Lewis Waterman
• Ball Point Pen: invented by John Loud
• Fiber Tip Pens: introduced into the U.S. market by Yukio Horie
• Felt-Tip Markers: made of dense or artificial fibers

Composition and Characteristics of Ink

• Indian Inks: the oldest form of Indian ink

Types of Inks

• Log Wood Inks: no longer manufactured
• Iron Gallotanate Inks: used extensively about a century ago
• Fountain Pen Inks: regarded as special fountain pen inks
• Dyestuff Inks: composed of aqueous solutions
• Water Resistant Writing and Drawing Inks: a special group of dyestuff
• Alkaline Writing Inks: quick-drying inks
• Ballpoint Pen Ink: did not appear on the European market
• Hectograph Inks: resemble stamp pad inks
• Typewriter Ribbon Inks: usually composed of a blend of aniline
• Stamp Pad Inks: made with the acid of substance
• Printing Inks: consist of a blend of aniline dyes
• Cancelling Inks: often contain carbon
• Skip Ink: manufactured by W.A. Chaffer Pen Company

Week 10: Document Handling - DOs

• Keep documents unfolded in a protective envelope
• Protective Envelope: the most useful and effective covering
• Take disputed papers to the document examiner's laboratory at the first opportunity
• If storage is necessary, keep the document in a dry place away from excessive heat and strong light

Proper Document Storage

• Once a document is disputed, it is seldom stored or filed for long
• Important documents are often kept for years

Document Handling - DON'Ts

• Do not handle disputed papers excessively
• Do not mark on the document
• Do not mutilate or damage by repeated folding, creasing, cutting, tearing, or punching
• Do not allow anyone except a qualified specialist to handle the document

Equipment of a Document Laboratory

• Room: A separate room should be built for physical examination
• Optical Equipment: Hand magnifier (a magnifying lens that is just enough in its magnification)
• Microscopes: A device used for producing a much larger view of very small objects
• Stereoscopic Microscope: gives an examiner a three-dimensional enlargement
• Forensic Comparator Microscope: three-in-one microscope, can bring together two objects into the same field
• Camera and Lens: used for discovering and proving information in court

Measuring Apparatus

• Considered as a sole basis in determining the genuineness of a document
• Hand writing measuring test plates are about a foot or fifteen inches in length
• Typewriting measuring test plates are designed to measure the typeface pitch

Special Lighting

• Visible light application
• Direct lighting: applies for photographing purposes
• Oblique lighting: positioned the lamp at one side with the source
• Side lighting: paper is held vertically
• Transmitted light: placed beneath the paper

Artificial Light Gadgets

• X-ray or Roentgen: soft radiation or Genz rays can be used to transmit light
• Ultra-violet light gadget: appears in various forms, "black light"
• Infra-red Lamp: Special type of black and white photography

Uses of Infra-Red Light

• Shows gunpowder strains
• Deciphers altered writings
• Restoration of writing
• Decipherment of obliterated writing
• Differentiates paints or pigments
• Detection and demonstration of certain secret writing
• Recording subjects in total darkness
• Addition, interlineations, or insertion detection
• Surveillance photography at night

Week 11: Typewriter

• Defines as a writing machine with a keyboard for reproducing letters on paper

Other Significant Typewriter Terms

• Alignment Defect: characters which write improperly
• Carbon Impression: striking thought carbon paper
• Character: connection with typewriting identification, the term character
• Defects: any abnormality or maladjustment
• Natural Variations: normal or usual findings
• Permanent Defect: cannot be corrected by simply cleaning
• Platen: cylinder which serve as the backing
• Proportion Spacing Typewriting: a modern form of typewriting
• Ribbon Impressions: impressions made through a cloth ribbon
• Ribbon Condition: deterioration, a measure of the ribbon's condition
• Transitory Defect: can be eliminated by cleaning the machine
• Type Face: the printing surface of the type block

Type Face Defects

• Vertical Alignment: above or below its proper position
• Horizontal Mal-alignment: character prints to the right or left
• Twisted Letter: becomes twisted and leans to the right or left of the correct slant
• Off Its Feet: heavier on one side or corner
• Rebound: character prints a double impression
• Actual Breakage: any peculiarity of typewriting's actual breakage in the line
• Clogged Typefaces: become filled with lint, dirty and inkenclosed letters such as o, e, p, and g

Identification and Examination of Typewritten Questioned Documents

• Haga: Earliest comment in writing
• Ames: exposition of the principles of typewriting
• Albert S. Osborne: the foremost document examiner (THE LANDMARKS IN TYPEWRITING IDENTIFICATION)

Types of Typewriters

• Conventional Typewriters Using Type Bars
  • Pica Type: 10 letters per inch
  • Elite Type: 12 letters per inch
  • 6 letters per inch
  • Teletype machine
  • 14-16 letters per inch - special typewriters
• Typewriter Using Single Element of Ball: typewriter machines, capable of typing 10-12 characters per inch
• Typewriter Using a Pring Wheel (Electronic Typewriter): equipped with a disc-type device called a printwheel