A man and his wife have been arrested in Jember District, East Java, on the charge of circulating fake Rp100 thousand banknotes.
"We have arrested EN (33) and his wife MS (43), who are residents of Cakru Village, Kencong Sub-district, Jember District, for (allegedly) circulating fake banknotes in Umbulsari Village, Umbulsari Sub-district,” Chief of Umbulsari Police Precinct First Inspector Muhammad Lutfi informed in Jember on Monday.
The suspects reportedly circulated the currency by buying goods at Umbulsari Market. However, one of the traders at the market became suspicious of the notes, he said.
"The trader later chased the married couple and contacted the police immediately, so we came to the market to arrest them," he added
He said the police seized eight fake Rp100 thousand banknotes from the suspects and launched an investigation into the case.
"We further developed the investigation to see where the suspects obtained the fake banknotes from. Based on the investigation, we seized 14 more pieces of fake Rp100 thousand banknotes. In total, we seized 22 pieces of fake Rp100 thousand banknotes," he informed.
Eleven other fake Rp100 thousand banknotes were obtained from the home of the suspect's parents in Kebonsari Village, Yosowilangun Sub-district, Lumajang District, East Java.
"Where the case is concerned, we will conduct a further investigation to disclose the inter-district banknote circulation syndicate," he said.
If found guilty, the suspects could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail and fined up to Rp10 billion based on Law No. 7 of 2001 on Currency.
Editor : Didik Kusbiantoro
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