2 more coin counterfeiters hunted

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) believes there are two more Chinese crime syndicates producing counterfeit coins. Authorities recently busted the operations of Taiwanese Yung Sung Liu on Oct. 17. Yung was producing P5 and P10 coins.

However, investigator Roland Argabioso, head of the NBI’s Field Operations Division, suspects that there are two more counterfeiting syndicates operating.

"We have already closed down Yung’s operations but we have received intelligence report that there are other groups, headed by Chinese nationals, who are also manufacturing counterfeit coins," he said, adding that the NBI has already started an investigation.

Argabioso recalled that they only found templates for making P5 coins when they arrested Yung. "Since the coins that we recovered from Yung consisted both of P5 and P10, we became suspicious why we did not find any template for P10. It seems that the Chinese were responsible for the fake P10 coins and Yung only copied the P5 coins."

Fake coins are easy to make. Raw materials, or faceless and smooth coins, are reportedly illegally shipped in from China. They are then stamped when they arrive in the Philippines.

NBI agents found counterfeit P5 and P10 coins — altogether totaling P5 million — after raiding Yung’s base of operations in Barangay Dalandanan, Valenzuela City.

Yung is presently detained at the Bureau of Immigration but he will not be deported until he faces trial on counterfeiting charges. "According to our asset, the P5 million worth of fake coins would only cover their one week distribution," Argabioso added.

The NBI estimates that at that rate, up to P140 million in counterfeit coins could be in circulation since Yung started operations in April.

Investigators suspect that the bogus coins abound in low-end malls in Metro Manila and shopping districts such as Divisoria and Baclaran, but may have already spread in the provinces. One businessman in Iloilo turned over P30,000 in fake coins to the local NBI office there.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said fake coins are easy enough to spot: Their sides are coarse and rough while genuine ones are smooth. The words "Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas" and "Republika ng Pilpinas" are bigger, and the profiles of the heroes are larger and not well defined.

Another way to detect counterfeit P10 and P5 coins — which are partly made of steel — is to use a magnet. Genuine P10 coins are made of copper, nickel, aluminum, and zinc. While a P5 coin is made of copper and nickel.