A Canadian has been sent to prison in the United Kingdom for six years for peddling poorly forged bonds with a face value of US$2.5 trillion.

A U.K. judge said Michael Slamaj, a Yugoslav native who moved to Canada 30 years ago, was driven by “greed” to try to peddle the fake bonds around the world.

The defence had argued Slamaj be spared prison time since no bank had ever cashed the notes. However, the judge said that Slamaj repeatedly tried to sell the bonds in Europe and the United States.

Slamaj and a British citizen were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Slamaj also was convicted of possession of fake bonds and using them to obtain credit.

Slamaj was given concurrent six-year sentences on both convictions.

The con started to come undone when two men tried to cash US$25 million at a bank in Toronto in February 2001.

A spelling mistake made an RCMP officer suspicious because the high-denomination notes, dated 1934, were printed with the word “dollar,” rather than “dollars.”