Abdul Khalik/Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The amount of counterfeit money circulating in the country increased just before and during the April 5 legislative elections, authorities have said.
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said on Thursday that from January to April police encountered numerous examples of counterfeit money in circulation, worth, if genuine, hundreds of millions of rupiah.
"We have formed a special team to investigate the matter and it has found hundreds of millions in counterfeit notes in several large cities across the country," said Suyitno, adding that there was a significant increase compared with the same period last year.
Difi A. Johansyah, from Bank Indonesia's directorate for currency circulation, acknowledged that fake money was on the increase but claimed that most of it had not entered the market.
"Most of the money was found during police raids, which means it did not enter the market. The amount of fake money discovered on the market was much less and appears to be reducing," Difi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Latest Bank Indonesia (BI) data shows steep increases in fake money – mostly Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 banknotes – discovered during police raids in March and May. Police discovered 5,099 notes in March, up from 1,155 the previous month, with 5,159 notes detected in May, up from 1,629 in April.
Counterfeit money discovered by BI – mostly through banks – has been on the decline within the past five months. The central bank found 1,079 notes in May, down from 1,613 in April. Some 2,496 notes were discovered in March, down from 3,151 in February.
As of May, a total of Rp 1.24 billion in fake money was discovered. The figure is higher than the Rp 1.06 billion in 2003, but far less than the Rp 9.87 billion in 2002.
Suyitno said he did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that the increase had anything to do with the election process.
The country held legislative elections on April 5, and will organize its first direct presidential election on July 5, with a possible run-off on September 20.
Suyitno said police had discovered syndicates producing and circulating bogus money in Central and East Jakarta; Bekasi, West Java; Surabaya; Surakarta, Central Java, and several large cities in Sumatra and Sulawesi.
He said that the increase in counterfeit notes had been facilitated by more sophisticated printing equipment that allowed criminals to fabricate high-quality fakes.
"The latest fakes we found looked almost 100 percent like genuine notes," Suyitno said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Sri Arsita Mutiara, chief information officer of non-governmental organization Combating Counterfeit and Financial Crime (CCFC) said that monetary authorities like BI ought to do something to prevent an increase in counterfeit money in circulation.
"We demand Bank Indonesia withdraw the current banknotes, especially the Rp 100,000 and Rp 50,000 bills, which account for almost 80 percent of fake money," she said.