Man with fake P142-T bills arrested

The Northern Police District (NPD) warned the public against the proliferation of fake peso bills after the arrest yesterday of a suspected member of a counterfeiting syndicate with thousands of pesos in bogus cash in Caloocan City.

NPDO deputy director for administration Senior Superintendent Raul Gonzales identified the suspect as Raymund Sta. Cruz, 27, of Block 5, Lot 12, Bagumbong, Caloocan City North.

Sta. Cruz was caught red-handed with 190 pieces of fake P500 and 47 pieces of P1,000 bills while he was about to leave a motel in Bagong Barrio. Police also seized from Sta. Cruz a white Toyota Revo, with license plate XJM 602, which he is using in his illegal operations.

Chief Inspector Jack Ramos, chief of the NPDO-District Mobile Force (DMF), said that his men, led by PO2 Noel Falcatan, were conducting a routine police visibility patrol near the Madonna Hotel in Bagong Barrio at around 11 a.m. when a young woman sought the cops’ help.

Falcatan’s team, composed of PO1s Rodolfo Caravana Jr., Edwin Abner, and Allan Escramosa, were told that she was having trouble with someone inside the hotel.

The woman also told the police that the man she was referring to is an alleged member of a group engaged in counterfeiting money and was carrying a large amount of fake money with him.

The DMF operatives waited for the man to step out of the hotel and pounced on him. He yielded a white envelope full of fake peso bills.

At the DMF office, the suspect told The STAR he has been in the "business" for only two months and that he got his supply of counterfeit money from a certain Joel from Mindanao.

Sta. Cruz also said that he used the money as bet in cockfights in different cockfighting stadiums in Metro Manila and nearby localities. He claimed that he pays P300 genuine money for every P1,000 counterfeit bill he uses and P150 for every fake P500 bill.

The complainant turned out to be one of the suspect’s alleged live-in partners. She asked for police assistance after discovering that Sta. Cruz was with another woman inside the hotel.

"There’s no doubt that these are fake money and the public must be extra cautious about them," Ramos said.

The fake cash could easily be distinguished from genuine money through its color and texture.

Ramos said that the bogus cash would be turned over to the Central Bank and appropriate charges will be filed against the suspect.