Thursday, December 06, 2007 Burn fake notes: US agency to police
BANK notes found in a bronze trunk in Argao, Cebu last October were fake, the United States Department of Homeland Security and the US Embassy in Manila said.
“They have been confirmed to be counterfeit and are of no monetary value by the United States Secret Service, Resident Agent in Charge, Guam,” said Theo-dore C. Lopez, deputy US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attaché, in a letter dated Nov. 7 and sent to Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos.
The US Embassy also requested PRO 7 to burn the notes, or to send these to the US consular agent’s office in Cebu for destruction.
“On behalf of all US federal agencies involved, we thank you for your professionalism and timely response in handling this sensitive matter. I look forward to personally meeting you and your staff in the near future,” the letter said.
The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), particularly operatives of the Argao Police Station, recovered the bonds last Oct. 12, after a Caucasian man abandoned the trunk in a banana grove in Sitio Prenza, Barangay Talaga, Argao.
Samples of the bank notes were sent to the US Embassy for analysis, although the police and US Honorary Consul John Domingo earlier pointed to signs the recovered documents were bogus.
Efforts to identify and locate the person who dropped the trunk in Argao town are also ongoing. Police have yet to find out what he intended to do with the bonds or how he produced them.
The recovery of the counterfeit bonds earned the provincial police office an award from the Department of Interior and Local Government last month. (JST)
