JEDDAH, 3 March 2004 — The arrest of a gang of African counterfeiters has heightened concern over forged currency in the Kingdom. Five million counterfeit US dollars were seized when three men were arrested, along with counterfeiting equipment.
However, the authorities believe that this may only be the tip of the iceberg and that although the three were the masterminds, a bigger network may have been involved.
Until now, most fake dollar bills found in the Kingdom were thought to have been forged elsewhere.
Abdullah, teller at one of the Kingdom’s leading money exchanges was surprised at the magnitude of the seizure but thought that it was a seasonal problem.
“It’s a issue during Haj — that’s when we get various fake currencies — including Saudi riyals,” he said. According to him, fake dollars have in the past come from countries like Lebanon where the US dollar doubles as a second currency.
Others were not so shocked. “I got a fake $20 bill three months ago while exchanging money at a currency exchange,” said Muhammad Assad, a 33-year old Jeddah businessman, “but they would not take it back when I went back there. They said it was my problem. Apparently there is quite a bit of it around.”
However, the counterfeiting of US dollars has not been seen as a big issue so far. “It’s not been a major problem in the Kingdom compared to other places, at least as far as we know,” a spokesman at the US Embassy told Arab News.
Currency exchange outlets do not simply rely on the sharp eye of their staff to spot counterfeit money. Most are equipped with electronic bill counters that are also counterfeit money detectors.
“We just reject the bill and tell the customer to be careful or to return it where he got it in the first place,” Abdullah said.
