Fight against fake money turns real

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-13 08:04

The Ministry of Public Security will reopen a department to fight the growth of fake bank notes across the country.

The ministry will also allocate 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) to fund major investigations into fake notes and provide rewards for tips and outstanding police officers.

China launched the nationwide crackdown after a number of "highly-realistic" notes created panic in some cities early this year.

Jing Bo, an art editor in Chaoyang district of Beijing, was recently faked out by two 100-yuan notes with serial numbers TJ55 and HB90. The latter was a serial number found in more than 10 provinces and municipalities.

"I wasn't aware of getting the fake notes. The first one was change from a store and the other one was given by a taxi driver," he told China Daily yesterday. "I usually take it for granted that bills are real, but I won't use this 'money' because it's fake."

Police said the fakes are hard to distinguish from real bills, but officials from the People's Bank of China say that as long as people look carefully, fake notes can be discovered by naked eyes.

Vice-Minister of Public Security Liu Jinguo told a television conference that the crackdown will concentrate on Guangdong, a province where more than half of the fakes are produced and seized. A professional team comprised of police from major counterfeiting areas including Henan, Hunan, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces will be set up.

Figures released by the ministry yesterday show that police across the country seized fake notes with a face value of 810 million yuan in nearly 2,200 cases since a crackdown started in January.

More than 4,100 suspects have been arrested for making and selling counterfeit notes, including 233 fugitives who had been at large for more than a decade, figures released over the weekend showed.

Police say the risk of being handed bogus notes is spreading from 100-yuan notes to smaller bills including 50s and 20s, which are more difficult to distinguish. The number of counterfeit smaller denomination bills seized by police so far this year has increased six-fold since 2005.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, yesterday also issued a notice with the ministry urging financial agencies to report fake notes worth more than 500 yuan to police immediately and report fake notes worth 200 yuan within the day. Police are required to probe the case without delay.

A press officer with the ministry reached by China Daily yesterday would not explain when the department on fake money was shut down, but said the decision to reopen it was designed to "intensify the current campaign against fake notes".