Banks wash their hands of counterfeit cash problem

• Source: Global Times
• [23:41 July 07 2009]
• Comments

 A bank worker shows a woman how to spot counterfeit banknotes at a promotional event held earlier this year in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The display in the foreground shows different types of forged notes. Photo Zhou Chao

 By Lin Jiasi

A Beijing woman who claimed an ATM dispensed counterfeit banknotes has vowed to continue her fight for justice after losing her court case against China Citic Bank, which operated the machine, the Xinhua News Agency reported last week.

“I’m not satisfied with the result and I’ll keep appealing and consulting my lawyers until the bank compensates my loss of 1,900 yuan plus interest,” the woman, surnamed Chen, said.

Chen filed a lawsuit in January after the bank failed to deal satisfactorily with her complaint that 19 of the 30 100-yuan bills she had withdrawn from an ATM in the lobby of the Fuhua Building in Chaoyang district were counterfeit.

She discovered the notes were fake when she put them through a detector machine in her home, and a bank employee later confirmed her suspicions, she said.

At a hearing in February at the Xicheng District People’s Court, Chen claimed staff from China Citic Bank had swapped genuine banknotes for fake ones as they were refilling the ATM machine. She asked the court to examine footage from a surveillance camera positioned above the machine, but the court rejected her request, saying the tape had been erased because it was more than a month old.

The judge ruled against Chen, saying she had insufficient evidence to prove her case.

Chen told Xinhua that all of the bills she withdrew from the ATM began with the serial numbers “HD” or “SA” and that they had not been tampered with after she took them home.

“No one touched the money after I withdrew it,” she said.

Zi Xiangdong, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, told the Global Times Monday that police do not know the source of the fake notes.

“We are doing all we can to stop the counterfeiters, but we can’t accuse the banks without clear evidence,” he said.

If people believe they have withdrawn counterfeit notes from an ATM they should contact the issuing bank immediately and present their receipt, Zi said.

“But neither police nor banks will compensate customers unless there is proof they showed the serial numbers of the fake notes to the surveillance camera at the ATM at the time of withdrawal,” he said.

The People’s Bank of China, which manages the distribution of the nation’s currency, told the Global Times it was not responsible for dealing with individual cases involving fake notes.

“People who become victims of counterfeiting should report the matter to the police or to their bank,” a spokesperson for the central bank said.

Guo Xin, an employee of the US-based Citibank in Beijing, told the Global Times the bank did not have a dedicated department for handling cases of customers being given counterfeit notes by ATMs.

“The banknotes are issued by the People’s Bank of China. Our job is just to put the notes through detector machines before putting them into the ATMs.”

When told about two cases in which Citibank ATMs were alleged to have dispensed counterfeit notes, Guo said, “That’s unfortunate.”