Thomas ‘Hologram Tam’ McAnea (58) pleaded guilty to delivering, selling or disposing of fake notes, on 3 September, at Edinburgh High Court. He was last week jailed for six years for his

part in the scam. He was arrested in January, along with six other men and women, following a raid by the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) at leaflet and menu printer Print Link (Scotland), in central Glasgow.

During the raid, the agency discovered £496,200 of counterfeit Bank of Scotland notes and €406,200 in counterfeit ε50 notes. A further £672,880 in counterfeit Bank of Scotland notes with the same serial number was also recovered, after already having entered the banking system. Experts from security printer De La Rue and the Bank of England confirmed the notes, printed on a Hei­delberg machine, were fake.

Other gang members were John McGregor (49), Robert Fulton (63) and Steven Todd (24), who will serve four years; Joseph McKnight (57), who was sentenced to three years; Rodney Cadogan (39), who was jailed for 15 months; and Maria Campbell (39), who will serve 150 hours of community service.

Graeme Pearson, director general of the SCDEA, said: “More than £1m of counterfeit currency was uncovered during this operation.

“It is not a victimless crime. It often affects the poorest and most vulnerable.”

The sentence comes almost 10 years after McAnea was found guilty of similar crimes, but the case was thrown out, ironically, because of a misprint on the arrest warrant.