FOUR suspects in the manufacturing of fake dollars, peso bills and government licenses underwent inquest on Thursday following their arrest in two simultaneous entrapment operations on Recto Avenue, Manila on Wednesday afternoon.
Around 2 p.m. Wednesday, operatives of the Manila Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit led by its head PCI Wilfredo Sy, nabbed the couple Leonora Boyles and John Ryan de Guzman and business partners Mark John Payas and BM Hinguillo inside two competing shops that process counterfeit documents.
The suspects, all around 25-30 years old, are college undergraduates whose almost 3-year old operation include manufacturing fake money and documents, such as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) driver’s license and permit to carry firearm licenses, Sy said.
Recovered from the suspects were LTO blank pouch, pieces of LTO blank OR form, assorted fake LTO licenses, firearms licenses, several pieces of LTO hologram, firearms and explosive division (FED) hologram, 56 pieces of US 100 dollar bill, 145 pieces 1000 peso bill, 135 pieces of 500 peso bill, one laptop, 2 sets of computer desktop, and other accessories.
Sy said the arrest was based on a September complaint made by the Embassy of the United States after they received as visa payment a fake P1000 bill last September.
The US Embassy, which endorsed the case to MPD, also certified that the fake P1, 000 bill they received was different to the genuine P1000 bill in terms of composition.
Sy said their department has been doing an intensive operation on Recto Avenue since the second week of September in response to the widespread counterfeit business in the area. Production of fake dollars and pesos proliferate as Christmas season approaches, he added.
“Targeting the store owners and not the fixers is more effective solution to this kind of crime,” Sy said.
“Using the naked eye, one cannot decipher which is counterfeit or not. For P200, one can avail of a “Talahib” or counterfeit driver’s license, which, Sy said, cannot be distinguished by local traffic enforcers. This modus-operandi enables law breakers to get away from further criminal liabilities, he added.
The suspects are currently detained at the MPD-CIDG and are facing charges for violating Art 166,168 and 172 of the Revised Penal Code.