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3 DPP legislators point out loophole for counterfeit notes

DPP legislators yesterday pointed out that a hole exists in the financial institutions' mechanism for controlling the circulation of counterfeit banknotes.

DPP legislators Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), Chien Chao-dung (簡肇棟) and Chiu Chuan-chin (邱創進) displayed banknotes that had been stamped with the seal indicating they are counterfeit but that are still in circulation to highlight the seriousness of the problem.

Chien said that according to the regulations, when a bank discovers a fake banknote, it must stamp it with the seal indicating it is invalid money and send it to the Central Bank of China for disposal.

But Chien pointed out that the bank has no real-time notification and monitoring system, so that it can only wait passively for notification from other financial institutions.

Moreover, he said that most banks often return counterfeit bank notes at the request of their patrons who want to keep them as souvenirs, Chien said, adding that this is the reason why invalid fake bills are circulating again in the market.

Legislator Chiu Chuan-chin cited the example of the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), which he said has the most comprehensive system for recalling counterfeit bills, saying that the bank recalled counterfeit bills amounting to NT$35.7 million (US$1.02 million) in value last year, for an average of NT$180,000 in counterfeit bills recalled by each of its branches.

It is estimated that all the branches of the nation's financial institutions together receive a total of NT$1.1 billion in counterfeit banknotes each year, or 15 times the amount of counterfeit bills seized by police, Chiu said.
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