CBJ urges public to validate new JD50 notes as counterfeiting ring busted

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Friday urged the public to validate and ensure that security features are visible on the JD50 denomination.

Previously, the CBJ published and clarified the security features through official local media outlets and social media accounts, as well as on the CBJ's website.

The JD50 note has certain security features that distinguish the bill, including a watermark, hidden category number, security thread, visual effects in the ink, salient ink and tactile features, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Also on Friday, Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel arrested members of a criminal network involved in manufacturing counterfeit copies of the new edition of the JD50 banknotes. The criminal group had attempted to exchange the counterfeit currency in shops, according to the Public Security Directorate (PSD) spokesperson.

Police were tipped off regarding unknown individuals dealing fake JD50 banknotes in several shops in Balqa, Amman and the Ruseifa District, the PSD spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that investigative teams in the AND directorates launched an investigation into the incidents to track and arrest the suspects, according to Petra.

Investigators were led to suspect four individuals involved in the incident, all of whom were arrested inside their vehicle outside of an Amman apartment building. Police seized 184 counterfeit banknotes worth JD9,200 and an unspecified amount of narcotic substances, the PSD spokesperson noted.

During interrogations, the suspects admitted that they had received the counterfeit banknotes from a main counterfeiter in Aqaba. The group affirmed that they had gone to Amman, the central governorates and Aqaba to promote the fraudulent banknotes, and took advantage of the limited exchange of the new bills among traders. The suspects admitted that a general lack of knowledge of the new bills’ security features compensated for the poorly counterfeited banknotes.

Police in Aqaba raided the location of the main counterfeiter and arrested him. From his location, officers seized several counterfeit banknotes, printers, inks, laptops and equipment used to manufacture the banknotes, the PSD spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said that all suspects will be referred to the State Security Court's public prosecutor, urging the public to validate their banknotes before completing transactions. Awareness of the new bills’ differentiating security features makes fraudulent bills easy to discover due to the poor counterfeiting method, he added.

The spokesperson called on the public to directly report any suspicious banknotes by calling 911.