Counterfeit cash sees rise during campaign: Police

Counterfeit cash sees rise during campaign: Police

Abdul Khalik/Tony Hotland, Jakarta

The amount of counterfeit money circulating in the country
increased just before and during the April 5 legislative
elections, authorities have said.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung
Sudjono said on Thursday that from January to April police
encountered numerous examples of counterfeit money in
circulation, worth, if genuine, hundreds of millions of rupiah.

"We have formed a special team to investigate the matter and
it has found hundreds of millions in counterfeit notes in several
large cities across the country," said Suyitno, adding that there
was a significant increase compared with the same period last
year.

Difi A. Johansyah, from Bank Indonesia's directorate for
currency circulation, acknowledged that fake money was on the
increase but claimed that most of it had not entered the market.

"Most of the money was found during police raids, which means
it did not enter the market. The amount of fake money discovered
on the market was much less and appears to be reducing," Difi
told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Latest Bank Indonesia (BI) data shows steep increases in fake
money -- mostly Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 banknotes -- discovered
during police raids in March and May. Police discovered 5,099
notes in March, up from 1,155 the previous month, with 5,159
notes detected in May, up from 1,629 in April.

Counterfeit money discovered by BI -- mostly through banks --
has been on the decline within the past five months. The central
bank found 1,079 notes in May, down from 1,613 in April. Some
2,496 notes were discovered in March, down from 3,151 in
February.

As of May, a total of Rp 1.24 billion in fake money was
discovered. The figure is higher than the Rp 1.06 billion in
2003, but far less than the Rp 9.87 billion in 2002.

Suyitno said he did not have sufficient evidence to conclude
that the increase had anything to do with the election process.

The country held legislative elections on April 5, and will
organize its first direct presidential election on July 5, with a
possible run-off on September 20.

Suyitno said police had discovered syndicates producing and
circulating bogus money in Central and East Jakarta; Bekasi, West
Java; Surabaya; Surakarta, Central Java, and several large cities
in Sumatra and Sulawesi.

He said that the increase in counterfeit notes had been
facilitated by more sophisticated printing equipment that allowed
criminals to fabricate high-quality fakes.

"The latest fakes we found looked almost 100 percent like
genuine notes," Suyitno said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Sri Arsita Mutiara, chief information officer of
non-governmental organization Combating Counterfeit and Financial
Crime (CCFC) said that monetary authorities like BI ought to do
something to prevent an increase in counterfeit money in
circulation.

"We demand Bank Indonesia withdraw the current banknotes,
especially the Rp 100,000 and Rp 50,000 bills, which account for
almost 80 percent of fake money," she said.