Bank note fraudsters apprehended

Thabazimbi – Fraudsters, four women and one unidentified driver, took their chances at Lekkerbek Liquors on Jacaranda Street 2 on Friday 21 July 2023. The suspects, who were driving a red Toyota Etios, stopped at the liquor store where they proceeded to make their purchases with counterfeited R200 notes. “The women did not enter the store together, they made separate purchases where they bought whiskey, beer, cigarettes, and chilli bites. My cashier went to the bathroom and when she returned, she noticed that her phone was missing. We immediately checked the store’s cameras and noticed that it was one of the women who took her phone. We then also noticed that all the women were driving in the same car. I then checked the notes and noticed that they were counterfeit notes. We totalled a loss of over a thousand rand,” said Lekkerbek Liquors owner Edwin Beyers in an interview with Platinum Bushvelder. Edwin was then able to recall the car’s registration number from the store’s camera footage and reported the matter to Thabazimbi SAPS and the community policing forum (CPF).

“I would like to thank SAPS and the CPF for their swift response,” added  Edwin.

All five suspects were apprehended on the same day near Beestekraal. “The suspects appeared before the Thabazimbi Magistrate’s Court on Monday 24 July where their case was postponed to 28 July for bail application,” said Sergeant Podingwane Khumalo.

According to the South African Reserve Bank, members of the public are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the upgraded banknotes and coins and to use the look, feel and tilt method to authenticate their currency.

Look features

• The colours have been subtly enhanced to improve visual differentiation between the denominations to cater for the partially sighted communities.
• The watermark depicts the shadow image of the Big 5 animal unique to each denomination, together with its denomination numeral.
• The preamble to South Africa’s Constitution is featured to the left and right sides of the main portrait in micro-lettering.
• Large denomination numerals have been incorporated on the front and back of the denominations, printed in positive and negative text to assist the partially sighted community.
• To further assist the partially sighted, each denomination now has a shape that encapsulate the see-through perfect print registration of the animal that is unique to each denomination. These shapes are diamond on the R10, rectangle on the R20, circle on the R50, hexagon on the R100 and oval on the R200. A complete image of the Big 5 animal can be seen when the banknote is held up to the light.

Feel features

• The tactile marks have been enhanced to support the blind and partially blind communities to differentiate between the denominations. The tactile marks are on the short edge of the R10 and R20 denominations and the long edge of the R50, R100 and R200 denominations. The gaps between the sets of tactile marks are counted to determine the denomination of the banknote: R10 – one gap, R20 – two gaps (on the short edge); R50 – one gap, R100 – two gaps and R200 – three gaps (on the long edge).
• The Coat of Arms, the words ‘South African Reserve Bank’, the Governor’s name and signature, the main portrait and the denomination numeral are in raised print on the front of the banknotes.
• The words ‘South African Reserve Bank’ in two of the 11 official languages, the denomination numeral and the Big 5 animals are in raised print on the back of the banknotes.

Tilt features

• SPARK®Live Truspin, a colour-changing ink with a spin circle feature, is incorporated within the Big 5 animal on the bottom right of the banknote. The circle spins and changes colour when the banknote is tilted.
• The security thread shows a dynamic movement and matches the colour change on the SPARK®Live Truspin when the banknote is tilted. The abbreviation ‘SARB’, the denomination numeral and the Big 5 animal unique to each denomination are visible on the security thread. When the banknote is held up to the light, the security thread appears as a continuous solid dark line.
• The denomination numeral appears as a latent image or hidden image on each banknote. The latent image can be seen by tilting the banknote almost horizontally to your eye.

For more information about the upgraded banknotes and coin, please visit www.resbank.co.za.