BSP, PNP arrest ‘counterfeiter’, seize fake US$100 bills

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and police authorities arrested in July 2022 a Cameroonian national in the act of selling counterfeit US dollar banknotes and seized from him 14 pieces of fake 100-dollar bills.

Fonki Gregory Abueh, 47, a resident of Makati, was arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by the Quezon City Police Anti-Cybercrime Team and the BSP’s Payments and Currency Investigation Group (PCIG).

The buy-bust operation was conducted in Taguig as the BSP reminded the public to be vigilant against counterfeit currency.

Abueh was charged before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office with illegal possession and use of false treasury or banknotes and other instruments of credit under the Revised Penal Code.

Abueh also faces separate charges of swindling/estafa under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10175) for defrauding an individual in a financial investment online scam.

The BSP urged the public to report any information on currency counterfeiting to the nearest police station or to the BSP PCIG (pcig@bsp.gov.ph or telephone numbers 02 8988-4833 and 02 8926-5092).