ABCON, Others Fight Against Fake $100 Bills From India
The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria has decried ongoing security investigation on $100 bills being imported from India into Nigeria.
In a statement, the President, ABCON, Aminu Gwadabe, disclosed this after the group’s National Executive Council Meeting in Lagos.
According to him, the $100 bill was majorly counterfeited because of huge profit margins that came with it.
He said some of the fraudsters’ objectives were not only to make profit, but to undermine Nigeria’s chances for automatic membership of the Financial Action Task Force after assessment of the country’s financial system scheduled for the first quarter of the year.
The ABCON boss said the issue of fake dollar in circulation had been observed and reported to the relevant security agencies.
He added that ABCON had in the interest of the economy and the BDCs’ businesses, secured the Central Bank of Nigeria and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s backing to begin nationwide campaign against fake currencies in the country.
He said rising cases of fake currencies in circulation had led to huge losses to BDC operators and the economy.
Gwadabe said that ABCON was educating the public on how to identify fake dollar bills in order to protect the image of the country in the eyes of foreign investors.
“It is part of our objectives which is enshrined in our constitution as an association to eliminate the incidence of fake currencies circulation thereby enhancing the image of the country and transparency in our operations,” he said.
Gwadabe said the ABCON NEC had released a guide to all BDCs on how to detect a fake dollar bill.
He disclosed that there were seven dollar bills of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 and seven steps to authenticate them.
He stated, “The weight of each bill is one gram, 2.61 inches wide and 6.14 inches in length. It is 75 per cent cotton and 25 per cent linen. Your finger can feel the thickness and texture.
“Besides, the portrait water mark is partly overlapped by the treasury seal, while the $100 bill is printed on the right side of the bill. The strip is thin, faint and runs vertically from top to bottom to the left of the watermark portrait. Also, the 3D security ribbon, also called the thread, is bright blue and vertical on the bill,” he said.
