Counterfeit currency is leaving traders and customers out of pocket
22/02/2012 10:11
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]another Counterfeit story!!! and it just proves that our holdings are NOT worthless!!! Go R.V.!!!!
BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 (AKnews) - Traders are rejecting 10,000 dinar notes over rumors about the increasing spread of fake currency.
The entry of 7 billion dinars worth of forged 10,000 notes into Iraq from Iran, was announced by government sources last year.
The fake currency is said to be a very close match to the original by 90%, and many traders have complained about the difficulty in distinguishing between the real article and the counterfeits.
Firas al-Sari, owner of Ghasaq Exchange Company,said: "We witnessed recently the entrance of forged 10,000 dinars notes. We do not know where this currency came from and the people began using it.
"We, at the exchange offices, are afraid of dealing with this category from customers because it was printed in a very precise way and is difficult to detect.
"Last week we uncovered about 60,000 dinars in forged 10,000 notes from money taken from citizens. This is a loss to us and we decided not to deal with it."
Members of the Council of Representatives have also called on government agencies to monitor this phenomenon, pointing out that this is a strategy intended to weaken the Iraqi economy.
Member of the Economic Committee in the House of Representatives and deputy in the National Coalition Abdul-Hussein Abtan told AKnews: "These rumors coincided with central bank measures to increase the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar. This relentless campaign is intended to weaken the Iraqi currency."
However, Fouad al-Bayati, a specialist in security affairs, believes that al-Qaeda are involved in counterfeiting the currency through administrative regulations scattered inside and outside the country.
"The security forces are hunting insurgents and forgetting about the fraud gangs associated with them, which are key financiers for insurgency," says Bayati.
"Some armed groups still have hidden administrative wings to carry out duties in the economic sector, most notably money laundering as well as falsifying identities and official documents."
Ashwaq al-Jaff from the Kurdish Blocs coalition believes that the government and relevant agencies are not doing enough to stop the problem.
"There should be control from state agencies, especially the security ones, and even from banks to curb this phenomenon," she said.
"The bodies that handle currency changing is responsible for this problem and must address it. We are surprised that the topic was not discussed more in the Council of Representatives, being a vital issue that affects the country's economy."
The local currency underwent through several changes in its history, most recently in 2004 when the former Governing Council replaced the previous currency, which was the symbol of the former regime.
It is hoped that the introduction early next year of the new currency, with three zeroes removed, will help the fight against fraudsters by replacing not only old notes but the counterfeit currency.
By Yazn al-Shummari
Additional reporting by Mahmoud al-Jabbouri
RN/SS/AKnews
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