Police have seized nearly 60,000 fake NT$50 coins with a total value of NT$3 million (US$93,341) in a raid in Tainan.
Tainan police on Thursday said they had been investigating the case since April last year after receiving complaints from local business owners that they had been given many counterfeit NT$50 coins.
The investigation led to a man surnamed Huang (黃), police said.
Photo: CNA
An assault rifle, a shotgun, bullets and drugs were found in a raid on Wednesday on a residence rented by Huang in Tainan’s Anping District (安平) , police said.
Police later raided the man’s actual residence in the city’s Rende District (仁德) and found 59,225 fake NT$50 coins totaling 583kg, which were divided into 60 bags and hidden behind a closet, detectives said.
When questioned, Huang reportedly said that the fake coins belong to a friend.
A Bank of Taiwan official who examined the coins said that the counterfeits are almost identical to the real thing, but people could identify the counterfeit coins if they look carefully.
The counterfeits have a darker luster and poorly defined inscriptions, the official said.
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