Banks wash their hands of counterfeit cash problem

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

Tian Yun, assistant director of the MacroChina Research Center, which provides economic and financial data, told the Global Times that security loopholes within the banks were allowing employees to exploit the nation’s financial system.

“Counterfeiting is common in China. In Chen’s case, there were no laws to protect her, and there is no way to detect internal fraud within the banking system,” Tian said.

“It’s a major problem for our social and economic security,” he said.

“If a victim like Chen had enough evidence against the bank, it could deduct wages from the guilty staff, or even sack them,” Tian said.

A Ministry of Commerce researcher, surnamed Zhao, said banks should not be held wholly responsible for the nation’s counterfeiting problem, as it was also the result of ineffective detection equipment.

“Some machines simply can’t identify every fake note, and bank employees don’t check each bill thoroughly,” he said.

“But it’s not their fault,” he said, without saying whose fault it was.

The maximum penalty under Chinese law for intentionally holding or passing counterfeit notes is three years in jail or a fine of 100,000 yuan. Those found guilty of transporting fake notes, with a total value above 200,000 yuan, face life imprisonment.

In the past three months, counterfeit 100-yuan notes have been reported in 10 provinces and regions, including Hong Kong, Xinhua reported.