Concerns about the circulation of counterfeit HK$1,000 banknotes heightened last night after it was reported that Macau police had seized fake notes bearing the HSBC name in casinos.
All previous fakes discovered were copies of notes issued by the Bank of China (BOC), prompting fears the scale of the problem might be bigger than initially thought. Reports from the former Portuguese enclave said police seized 28 fake HK$1,000 notes in casinos - 13 of them HSBC copies and the rest BOC ones. The issue date on the HSBC fakes was 2008.
Earlier this week Macau police said they had seized 63 counterfeit BOC notes. Yesterday's seizure takes the total to 91.
Police did not rule out the possibility that the two batches of fakes were made by the same syndicate. Hong Kong police would follow up on the issue, a spokesman said.
In Hong Kong yesterday, banks, restaurants and shops were refusing a type of HK$1,000 banknote after police seized five fake notes of the same denomination from two local banks this week. The notes were copies of those issued by BOC in 2003, which feature the BOC Tower on the front and the Convention and Exhibition Centre on the back. Several banks, including HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, put up notices saying this type of note would not be accepted by cash deposit machines before they are upgraded to enable counterfeit identification. Standard Chartered Bank "may not" accept the notes, a notice on its automated teller machines said.