Cameroon: Counterfeit foreign banknotes in wild circulation

The Herald newspaper reports that officials at various money-transfer outfits in Cameroon say the number of fake banknotes detected in the course of their daily operations is nearing alarming levels. Most of them held that counterfeit euros and dollars are circulating wildly since a couple of weeks.
Curiously, none of the fake banknotes possessors have been arrested. “Many of those in possession of the counterfeit money are very respectable individuals you will hardly suspect. This week alone, I’ve had five cases and most of them are people who recently travelled to the country. They generally express surprise when they are informed that their money is fake,” Gladys D., a waiter at a money-transfer company in the country's economic capital of Douala, told the newspaper.

Even currency dealers operating at the popular exchange black market in the vicinities are reported to have stepped up vigilance. Many said they have noticed a surge in the circulation of the forged foreign currencies in the past few weeks. They said the fake money, at first sight, appears very genuine until detection devices are put to use. “For the moment, cases involving FCFA banknotes are rare,” a dealer narrated.

The increase in the circulation of fake euros and dollars has been linked to the ongoing global financial crisis. According to recent reports, counterfeit money printers are taking advantage of the tightening of credit by banks in the West to flood markets with the forged banknotes.

A Cameroon national, Roger Makam, was last week remanded in custody in Fiji after he was charged by police with printing counterfeit American $100 banknotes. Reports say he was found in possession of equipment used to print the notes in his hotel room. State prosecutors told the court that Makam had been able to print a considerable amount of notes. He is suspected to be part of a bigger network printing fake currencies and moving throughout the Pacific

Elsewhere, Belgian criminal police have reported that about a fortnight ago, an individual from Abidjan in the Ivory Coast successfully entered the country via the Brussels Airport with a bag-load of counterfeit 50-euro banknotes dated 2002. He purportedly changed 100.000 euros within 24 hours. The man, whose names police are withholding, is said to be about 40 years old, of Ivorian nationality.

Belgian police say they have evidence indicating that the fake money he successfully discharged into their system was manufactured at a Chinese printing house in Abidjan . They say other Africans [and Ivorian nationals in particular] acting as middlemen are known to be vending the fake euros in Belgium and other parts of Europe at 10 percent of their actual face value.