The Bank of Canada has announced the recipients of its 2007 Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Counterfeit Deterrence.

Acting Detective Brian Wintermute and Detective Tom Warfield, and Constables Steve Poplawski, Scott Besco, and David Bauer of the Peel Regional Police Service in Ontario were honoured yesterday during the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in Calgary.

The recipients of the award were selected for their efforts and innovative investigative techniques in a major investigation dubbed Project More Money. The central bank says the tireless work of these officers led to the shutdown of a significant counterfeiting operation, the arrest of 30 suspects on 469 criminal charges, and the seizure of sophisticated printing equipment that was linked to many counterfeit $20 and $50 notes circulated in Canada during 2005 and 2006.

The Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Counterfeit Deterrence was established in 2004 to recognize the work of Canadian law-enforcement personnel in deterring and preventing the counterfeiting of Canada’s bank notes. “Counterfeiting erodes confidence in the money we use every day and can undermine the economic health of our country if left unchecked,” says Gerry Gaetz, chief of the bank’s department of banking pperations. “That is why the bank strongly supports Canada’s law-enforcement authorities in the fight against counterfeiting and is proud to honour the tremendous contribution of this year’s award winners.”