This should be a warning to those going on holidays to take care that they
are not given these fake notes by money exchangers. Read below.
Momodou Camara
-----------------------------------
Fake Dalasi Notes Circulating Again!
The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
June 28, 2002
Posted to the web June 28, 2002
Banjul
Counterfeit Dalasi notes are said to be making the rounds, causing
widespread concern among the business community.
The fake notes, which are reportedly mainly in D50 denominations, are said
to have 'no real difference' with the genuine notes. 'The only difference
between it and the real one is that the fake one has no plastic thread running
from one end of it to the other. It is also darker than the real one' said one
apparently businessman who requested for anonymity. He added that the
fake notes do not have the 'crocodile water mark' visible on the middle to the
bottom part of the authentic version.
Amadou Wurrie Barry a Guinean trader, who initially declined to comment
after he mistook this reporter for an intelligence officer, said the fake notes
are not only in D50 denominations. According to him there are also fake
D100 notes, one of which he discovered while he was counting his own
money. He said fearing the adverse effect the situation may unleash on the
business community he wasted no time to inform his counterparts. Quizzed
as to why he did not report the fake circulation to the law enforcement
agencies, Barry said he was afraid to land himself in trouble. However, he
said by reporting it to the press, he was expecting that the police would take
note of the story and take prompt action. Meanwhile tempers flared recently
when a fish seller at the Serrekunda market raised the alarm after she was
handed a D25 note, believing it was a fake currency. The money passing off
as a legitimate tender was showed to a curious crowd at the market some of
whom pointed out that it was without the plastic thread that authenticates a
currency. Its producer however, laboriously insisted that she received it
innocently as a change in the roll of a buying spree. The lady said she was
not the type to deal with fake notes knowingly and blamed the agitated fish-
seller for her supposed lack of understanding. She was about to be taken to
police station, when other market sellers intervened on her behalf.
An unidentified group is suspected to be responsible for the fake circulation,
which is the second such fake currency scare in several months, the first
being in the beginning of last year. There is growing anxiety within the
business community for a sweeping measure to put a permanent lid on the
spate of fake currency circulations that many fear could dampen business
confidence here.
Police sources say they are aware of 'some currency circulation' problems
and were investigating it, but have also urged vigilance from the public.
Meanwhile the police Public Relations Officer could not be reached to shed
light on how far investigations on the fake currency notes have gone.
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