YASMIN POPESCU

Freeport News Reporter

yasmin@nasguard.com

Counterfeit notes now circulating in Grand Bahama range from $5 bills to $100, police warned yesterday.

With a lot of counterfeit Bahamian dollars presently in circulation, the Royal Bahamas Police Force warned the community about the new look of the bills.

Superintendent Edmund Rahming, in charge of Central Detective Unit, said that over the past five days they discovered persons were using various denominations of counterfeit currency notes to obtain goods and services.

"As we are all aware this is a criminal offence and it is punishable by law," he continued.

Warning that the maximum penalty for offenders is up to 10 years imprisonment, Rhaming said: "As a result of this practice and the alert given to the media, we thought it was necessary to share some additional details with you in order that we may together protect our economy from becoming further affected through crime."

Rahming then ordered persons who are using the counterfeit notes to desist.

Inspector Alvardo Dames, attached to CDU, then showed a slide of the notes that are presently being dispersed.

Dames said the current family of Bahamian bank notes contain certain security features such as a see-through sand dollar, all the notes are made of 100 percent cotton bank note paper with security fibers, florescent green or yellow throughout the notes.

"Some helpful ways of detecting counterfeit notes are to feel the texture of the bill compared to the regular paper," he said.

"Compare the suspected bill with another bill of the same denomination for similarities or dissimilarities. Also, look carefully at the quality of the print on the actual note for defects and check for the size, thickness of the note."

The police then shared slides with the press to be able to help with the identification of the notes.

It was noted that the counterfeits are found in Bahamian notes from $5 - $100 and in the American $100.

Rahming said they found that the American $100 note was made on bleached-out $1 bills, so it's on genuine money paper.

But the Bahamian money is copied on common copy paper he stated.

In a previous release, the police said counterfeit notes in Bahamian $100 bills with serial numbers A330535 were collected from several business places in Grand Bahama.

Police therefore asked the public, in particular business operators, to be on the alert and to contact the police if they come in contact with any of these notes or person/persons responsible.