By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
TWO people, a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with counterfeit notes amounting to K148,000 and believed to have been produced on a high resolution copier. Traders uncovered the currency and reported to police who apprehended the culprits.
The Bank of Zambia says high resolution copiers were being used to scan and copy banknotes in the scam unearthed in Nkeyema. A total value of about K148, 700 counterfeit banknotes in K50 denominations were seized in Nkeyema, says Bank of Zambia (BoZ) acting Assistant Director Communications, Besnat Mwanza.
The female suspect has since appeared in the Kaoma magistrate court facing a charge of possession of counterfeit notes.
The male suspect is awaiting an assessment report before being taken to court.
Responding to a press query, Ms Banda said two individuals were arrested in connection with the counterfeit notes last week.
She indicated that the availability of high resolution copiers had made it easy for counterfeiters to scan and copy banknotes.
“These features were designed precisely to help the pub- lic to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit notes.
“To this effect, the public are encouraged to use the principles of look, feel and tilt to distinguish a genuine banknote from a counterfeit,” Ms Banda said.
She explained that some of the security features the public should look out for in a genuine high value banknote included a gold iridescent band, representing doves and runs from the top to the bottom of the banknote when viewed against light.
Ms Banda said that other security features were tactile marks for the visually impaired.
“When you run your fingers along the edges of the banknote: the tactile marks can be clearly felt,” Ms Banda said.
Others security features, she said, were a coloured latent im- age on the front of the banknotes shows a ‘Fish eagle’s head/BoZ’ with tactile embossing and colour shift effects which are visible when the banknote is tilted and turned.
Ms Banda had since urged the public to familiarise themselves with these features of genuine banknotes.
