something not too long back from Wed, Jan 20, 2010.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20100119-192933.htmlSuspect swaps fake S'pore notes for $200,000 worth of real rupiah
By Arul John
FAKE Singapore bank notes with a face value of close to $200,000 popped up in Indonesia about two weeks ago.
The New Paper learnt that Indonesian police has nabbed a civil servant after he exchanged 20 counterfeit $10,000 bank notes for 1.3 billion rupiah ($196,300).
Viktorino dos Santos allegedly made the transaction at a branch of Bank Mandiri in East Nusa Tenggara, or West Timor.
Three other men, believed to be his accomplices, were nabbed a day after dos Santos, 54, was arrested. Jakarta Globe journalist Farouk Arnaz told The New Paper that this was the largest counterfeiting scam in Indonesia involving fake Singapore currency.
"We have had cases of counterfeit US currency and Euro notes, but counterfeit Singapore money is very rare," he said.
The Jakarta Globe reported that the teller at the Bank Mandiri branch allegedly did the exchange without noticing that the money was fake.
The counterfeit notes were noticed only when they arrived at the bank's headquarters in Jakarta. Bank Mandiri declined to comment as the case is under police investigation.
Brigadier-General Radja Erisman, the director of economic crimes at the Indonesian national police, told The New Paper that the quality of the counterfeit notes was quite high.
Ultraviolet light
He said: "The bank teller had not seen a $10,000 note before and thought the notes were genuine. The bank authorities in Jakarta could detect the counterfeit notes only by using ultraviolet light equipment and then called the police."
Brig-Gen Radja said dos Santos allegedly got the counterfeit currency from three other Indonesians - Guntur Adi Pranoto, 48, Trie Boedijanto, 40, and Sugiono, 41.
He said: "He then took the notes to Bank Mandiri in Kupangto exchange them for rupiah. After the counterfeit notes were detected, the bank management in Jakarta contacted the bank manager in Kupang.
"The teller who did the exchange was questioned and when police interviewed the other bank staff members, some of them identified Santos. We interviewed two other Bank Mandiri officials before arresting him."
Brig-Gen Radja said the three other men were nabbed by police in West Java a day after dos Santos was arrested.
He said the Indonesian police are trying to find out where the money was printed and would seek help from their Singapore counterparts if necessary.
The police are also investigating where the men got the fake notes and who else maybe involved.
Brig-Gen Radja said: "We are waiting for more leads to find out if a syndicate was involved. We have 120 days to prepare our case and send it to the prosecutor's office."
The Jakarta Globe reported that dos Santos could be charged under Indonesia's criminal code for embezzlement and fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of four years' jail.
Counterfeit Singapore notes have appeared here and overseas but they are not common.
Mr Neil Holland, who runs a company offering document verification services, told The New Paper: "The two main currencies in the world, the US dollar and the euro, are counterfeited throughout the world and the quality of these do vary significantly.
"After this, local counterfeiters will target local currency and then currency in surrounding countries."
Mr Seyadhou Zahanguire, president of the Money Changers Association Singapore, said he is surprised to learn of the case and the large amount of fake Singapore currency involved.
He said: "The last time I heard of counterfeit Singapore money being used here was around three or four years ago. Counterfeit Singapore money is very rare and we usually see more counterfeit US and Chinese currency."
There are more than 300 licensed money changers here and about half are members of the association.
While fake Singapore bank notes have appeared here, they have not been of good quality.
Mr Seyadhou said: "It is hard for money changers here to get the currency unknowingly as all the money changers here have currency detection equipment, which they use to examine currency notes they buy or sell."
Fewer cases
There were 28 cases involving counterfeit currency notes and coins in 2006, said police spokesman William Goh. This dropped to 10 cases in 2007 before going up again to 19 in 2008and 25 in the first nine months of last year, he said.
DSP Goh said the cases were within Singapore but not all resulted in arrests as some of them included reports of people who found counterfeit currency and reported it to the police.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) receives isolated reports of counterfeit Singapore currency from time to time, a spokesman told The New Paper.
He said the incidence of counterfeit notes is extremely low and the quality of the counterfeit notes has been poor.
The MAS spokesman said: "This is because our current series of notes and coins have the latest security features, which makes counterfeiting difficult and costly.
"The counterfeits can be distinguished from genuine currency quite easily. The key to identifying counterfeit notes is in recognising the security features."
Although the Singapore dollar was not counterfeited regularly and was not a major black market currency, Mr Holland said: "Authorities cannot sit back because organised crime will target most countries at some time. The need for governments to secure their currency with the latest security devices shows the level of concern that one day they may be targeted."
