NBI seizes 1,400 fake $100 bills

MANILA, Philippines - National Bureau of Investigation agents seized 1,400 fake $100 bills and arrested two men during an entrapment operation in Pasay City.

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said the counterfeit money would amount to about P6.4 million if they were genuine,

Suspects Jesus Tolentino de Leon, 54, and Ernesto Clavio Pascual, 53, were charged with illegal possession and use of false treasury or bank notes and other instruments of credit before Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office. Bail was recommended at P20,000 each.

In a certification dated Jan. 22, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas found the bills to be counterfeit.

Representatives from the United States embassy took samples and forwarded them to the US Secret Service for another examination.

Mantaring said the NBI is looking into the possibility that the counterfeit bills were done abroad because of their good quality. The fake bills also showed watermarks done by professional counterfeiters with high-tech machines, he added.

Mantaring said some of these fake bills are already in circulation and warned the public to be cautious in buying or accepting dollars from people they do not know.

A lot of these counterfeit bills are very hard to detect, he added.

NBI National Capital Region director Edward Villarta said early this month they received information about a syndicate headed by De Leon selling fake US dollars.   – Sandy Araneta