Beijing, Jul 23 (IANS): Fake currency notes worth 118 million yuan ($18.5 million) have been seized and 463 suspects were arrested for counterfeit money related crimes in a special crackdown across China, said authorities.
In one case, police in south China's Guangdong province arrested four suspects and confiscated nearly-finished fake notes worth more than 80 million yuan as well as manufacturING equipment in May, according to a statement by the public security ministry.
The crackdown is part of a special campaign launched in March against economic crimes, reported Xinhua.
"Fake note cases and the amount of fake notes discovered by financial institutes have been decreasing under sustained crackdown," said the statement.
Figures from the ministry show that a total of 2,821 suspects have been arrested for counterfeit money-related crimes since 2010, and four were given death penalty for manufacturing fake notes.