The Makati police have warned residents about fake US dollars that may be circulating in the city following the arrest of two foreigners and their Filipino companion who yielded nearly 200 pieces of counterfeit $100 bills.
Charges of forgery were filed against Philip Millimono, 36, from Papua New Guinea; Harison Dash, 25, from Liberia; and Maria Psyche Domasan, 22, their Filipino companion; in the city prosecutor’s office after they were caught on Monday printing fake dollar bills in their room at the Shillia Philia Hotel in Makati City.
According to a police report, the hotel owner, Susan Lee, called the police after several guests complained about a strong odor coming from the room occupied by the suspects.
When the police arrived at the hotel, they checked the suspects’ room where they found bundles of paper shaped like currency and 193 counterfeit $100 bills.
Also seized from the suspects were tools they used for making the fake dollars which included solvent, paper, ink, stamp pads and paint brushes, among others.
Senior Insp. Gaylord Tamayo, deputy chief of the Makati police’s criminal investigation division, said investigators later found out that one of the suspects, Millimono, was arrested and charged last week after he allegedly hit a woman at a bar in Makati City. He was released after he posted bail of P60,000.
Tamayo added that they were still trying to determine if the suspects managed to pass on some of the fake money around the city. Ed Margareth Barahan