Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) agents arrested a Sanchung man yesterday for allegedly printing fake US banknotes with a face value of US$3 million.
Ku Chuan-chen (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Ku has been selling the fake dollar bills to money wholesalers at one-tenth of the value of real US dollars," a BCI official said.
According to the bureau, Ku has a record of counterfeiting and had been sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was released on parole last year after serving seven years.
Bureau agents seized more than US$3 million in fake banknotes at Ku's home and believe some of the counterfeit bills are already in circulation.
In recent months, fake CB versions of the greenbacks have been seized worldwide.
The CIA suspects Taiwan is one of the countries where the fake dollar bills originated.
Police officials are cooperating with the CIA in tracing the criminal rings which printed the fake dollars bills, and the central bank has invited US experts to teach local bank clerks how to identify fake dollar bills.
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