Bogus banknote seizures up 68 per cent last year, as Hong Kong police raid fake bill workshop, detain mother-daughter pair
- Officers arrest tenant of a flat in Fanling and her daughter, seizing 54 bogus HK$500 banknotes along with unfinished bills, production equipment
- Police seized 11,771 counterfeit HK$1,000 banknotes between January and November of 2020, up 103 per cent from 5,785 in the whole of 2019
The number of bogus banknotes of various denominations seized in the first 11 months of 2020 rose by 68 per cent year on year to nearly 13,500, up from 8,009 in 2019, according to the latest figures.
Police seized 11,771 counterfeit HK$1,000 (US$129) banknotes between January and November, 2020, up 103 per cent from 5,785 in the whole of 2019.
The number of seized fake HK$500 notes rose by nearly 25 per cent to 1,352 in the first 11 months of 2020, up from 1,082 in 2019. But the seizure of bogus HK$100 notes dropped to 274 over the same period of last year, compared to 1,044 in the previous year.
According to police, the seizure of counterfeit banknotes of other denominations remained in the double digits.
Police warned Hongkongers to be aware of bogus banknotes ahead of Lunar New Year following the discovery of a makeshift counterfeit note workshop in a public housing flat in Fanling.