More than P480,000 worth of counterfeit money has been seized in previous operations of the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP) in 2021.
According to a statement from the BSP on Monday, the agency has conducted seven operations, and 16 suspects have been arrested, 14 of whom are alleged members of the syndicate.
“The BSP’s Payments and Currency Investigation Group, which carries out said operations, has already filed criminal cases against the arrested individuals in the courts,” the agency said in their statement.
“In addition to the seized counterfeit Philippine currency, the BSP also seized more than 200 pieces of counterfeit foreign banknotes during the said period,” it added.
“The operations also led to the seizure of more than 14,300 pieces of counterfeit US dollar bills with a notional value of USD 92.59 million, along with a number of other foreign currencies,” said BSP.
“Of the 176 arrested suspects, 127 were members of a criminal syndicate while the remaining 48 were found to have acted on their own,” it added.
BSP: P480,000 worth of counterfeit money seized in 2021
So far, 161 criminal cases are being handled by the agency, of which 63 have been resolved while 98 are still ongoing. According to them, 62 of the cases resulted in a conviction.
The agency reminded that under the law, counterfeiters could be jailed for 12 years and one day with a fine not to exceed P2 million.
They urge the public to notify the authorities or refer to the telephone numbers (02) 8988-4833 and (02) 8926-5092 if they encounter such an issue.
Last month, authorities discovered nearly P50 million worth of coins and several luxury cars stored in a house in Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City.
During the operation of the anti-organized and transnational crimes division of the National Bureau of Investigation, hundreds of bags of coins were exposed in the said house.
The NBI is with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which is authorized to inspect the area after it has been surveillance for more than two months.
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