THE police in Accra have made a major breakthrough in their task of bringing to book some of the brains behind the printing and circulation of fake currency notes in the country, with the arrest of a young man believed to be deeply involved in the illegal business.

Ibrahim Abu Adams was arrested with a bundle each of ?20,000 and ?5,000 denominations, 800 dollars in $100 denominations and CFA 10,000 denominations at his residence at Abeka, a suburb of Accra.

A box full of white paper cut to the size of various denominations and a carbon copy of ?5,000, ostensibly used to print the fake currency notes, were also found in his room when he was arrested.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Boakye, Accra Regional Commander, briefing the Graphic in Accra yesterday, said investigations have so far revealed that the fake currency notes are usually brought to Accra after they have been printed outside.

He revealed that when the money is brought down to Accra, the dealers, believed to be members of the infamous “419” group, then sell it at half the value of the total amount for genuine ones.

For instance, he said, the dealers would sell ?200,000 fake currency notes for ?100,000 genuine currency.

Mr Boakye said another modus operandi of the group is to purchase large quantities of various phone cards with the fake notes and resell the cards at subsidised prices.

The foreign currencies are exchanged at lower cedi-rates to the unsuspecting public. The Police Commander said the group also mixes some of the fake notes with genuine money to be deposited at the banks and often the counterfeit notes go through undetected.

He advised members of the public to volunteer information on any person they suspect to be involved in the business. Mr Boakye also cautioned the public to refrain from accepting such fake currency notes because the law will not be on their side if they are arrested.

He gave the assurance that the police will do everything possible to bring the situation under control. At the time of going to press, the police were out to apprehend other principal actors in the fake currency business.