2014.01.27
Office worker arrested for using counterfeit bills
Urasoe Police has arrested a 25-year-old office worker, Jan. 23, on suspicion of using a fake 10,000-yen bill..
According to police investigators, Yasushi Yamashita is suspected of using the counterfeit bill to pay for a taxi ride. Yamashita has admitted to using the bill to pay the taxi.
Police say that over the past few weeks several fake ¥10,000 and ¥1,000 bills were discovered to have been used in convenience stores and taxis in southern and central parts of Okinawa. Investigators say the bills have no watermark, have a reddish color and seemed as if they were made with a color-copier, and were easily recognized to be fake.
Police investigation continues, and they are trying to determine whether Yamashita used fake money in other instances, and whether he was involved in making the bills.
The last time someone was arrested for spreading counterfeit bills in Okinawa took place in 2007.