Cashier thwarts shopping spree using fake notes

A vigilant department store cashier thwarted a 39-year-old man’s plan to go on a weekend shopping spree after the shop staffer spotted that the P1,000 note he handed over was counterfeit.

Security guards at Pacific Mall in barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City rushed to the cash counter and apprehended Romeo Raquel of barangay Calamba, Cebu City after they were alerted by the cashier.

The guards turned over the suspect to the custody of the police at the Centro Police Station.

Police seized three P1,000 notes, four P500 notes and a P200 note, which were later found to be counterfeit, from the suspect’s possession.

Police said Raquel was trying to buy a pair of sandals. He refused to reveal where he got the fake currency notes and insisted he didn’t know that these were counterfeit.

Raquel will be charged with illegal use of false treasury notes before the Mandaue City Prosecutors’ Office.

The arrest came a few days after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the national police alerted the public to be vigilant against the circulation of fake currency notes, some of which were said to have been circulated in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Supt. Paul Labra, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID), said they are monitoring personalities suspected to be involved in manufacturing fake currency notes.

Police reiterated its warning for business establishments to be vigilant against counterfeit currency notes.

Labra said that in coordination with the Central Bank, police plan to conduct seminars on how to distinguish between original and counterfeit notes.

According to Bangko Sentral guidelines, genuine bills are those that have optical variable ink (OVI), an anti-counterfeiting measure used on many major modern banknotes.

Last year, the Cebu City police seized 800,000 pieces of fake P1,000 bills. Some fake US$100 bills were also seized from a man in barangay Banilad, Cebu City.

The fake bills were sold for P90 to P250 each.