The United Nations Group of Experts revealed three attempts by the Houthi militia to illegally import and print paper currencies and printed passports abroad.

The team reported that it had previously reported from several sources about the seizure of forged promissory notes worth 35 billion Yemeni riyals, and forged passports that were illegally printed abroad and smuggled into Yemen.

The team also reported in a previous report about another attempt by the militias in August 2023, to print counterfeit banknotes using a printing press in China.

Another investigation conducted by the team revealed that Mahmoud Saeed Hizam Al-Amiri, who contacted the Chinese printing company, does not represent the Yemeni government and that the passport No. (07865754) bearing his name was issued by the Houthis from Sana’a.

The team recently received information that the Houthis, through their representatives, contacted a company in Indonesia to supply security paper, ink, and supplies for printing banknotes, promissory notes, financial stamps, and passports.

The team said that it requested Indonesia to conduct the necessary investigations, and the team also wrote to the company in question asking it to provide the relevant information, but it did not receive any response from either party.

The team’s investigations revealed that neither the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden nor the Yemeni government submitted any such request to this company.

Sources informed the team that the Houthis obtained blank passports through this company in 2016, and the team was unable to verify the veracity of these allegations.

The report of the team of experts indicated that investigations revealed that some individuals traveled abroad for the purposes of military training with forged passports issued by the Houthis.

The Central Bank of Yemen, which is controlled by the Houthis, also announced the issuance of 100 riyal coins under the pretext of replacing damaged paper currencies, which the team’s investigations revealed to be approximately 12 billion riyals.

The team’s sources informed that the Houthis were able to mint these coins locally because they were unable to print paper currencies in Yemen, which require a number of things, including security paper and special ink, all of which the Houthis had difficulty obtaining from abroad.

The team, citing its sources, indicated that the Houthis will issue more coins or paper currencies to finance their war activities and to determine their position as a center of economic power