Before moving to Indonesia in the mid 1990s, I lived in a suburb of London called Kensal Green dark, where counterfeit money was plentiful. A fake £ 20 note could be bought for just £ 5. Apparently, the preferred method of getting rid of them was to target a busy McDonald, queuing for the fund operated by the youngest cashier and order the cheapest thing on the menu. Villains could cover five fast food places in one hour, the conversion of £ 25 bogus money £ 95 pounds of real money and unhealthy snacks. Never wanting to live among criminals, I moved to India and Indonesia.
When the Asian financial crisis hit Indonesia in mid-1997, one of my biggest concerns was that my salary was paid in Andromeda bank, partly owned by the middle son of Suharto, Bambang Trihatmodjo. The bank was liquidated, and some of my savings, in November 1997. Undaunted, Bambang simply took over another bank, which was also wound up as quickly reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund.
In 1999, after the Rupiah had irretrievably lost, counterfeit notes Rp.50,000 began seizing and circulation amounted to at least Rp.29 billion ($ 2.6 million) in February 2000. These notes featured the portrait of Suharto, ironically subtitled Bapak Pembangunan (Father of development).
Anti-corruption George Aditjondro in his cleverly titled book 2006 presidential Corruption: Reproductive Oligarchy Tripod: Palace Barracks and the ruling party , indicates that a police investigation into a counterfeiting led to the military and the Suharto clan. The wife of the grand-son of Suharto was caught using counterfeit money in a Jakarta hotel, while a printing press used to make money was suspected of belonging to one of the children of Suharto. Aditjondro offer no hard evidence to back up that last statement. He also alleges that the company Bambang Trihatmodjo, PT Tridaya Esta, cooperated with a state enterprise to produce paper sold mint state, Peruri.
Counterfeit rupiah were used in the period around 1999 referendum on the independence of East Timor, in which about 1,400 people were murdered. Desperate to keep the territory as his private stomping ground, the Indonesian military formed proxies of the local militia, who were responsible for terrorizing the East Timorese to vote to remain with Indonesia. These militias were paid for infringement. There is a story that one of the most prominent militia leaders took boxes of money across the border to West Timor and tried to put them in his bank account, to be informed of the money was coined. When he complained of an Indonesian military intelligence general, it has been criticized for being stupid enough to divert the fictitious money for the killing squads.
Details of this operation came to light in Jakarta in 2000 when two former soldiers, Ismail and Eddy Putra Kereh, were tried and imprisoned for forgery. Ismail said the chief can army general Tyasno Sudarto, who previously headed the Military Intelligence Agency, instructed the union to print money to pay the militias. He said Tyasno was told the order had come from General Wiranto. Prosecutors and judges refused to convene Tyasno, who told the media that the allegation was slander.
A witness to the police during the trial, Omar Faroq, said records showed the union paid Rp.10 million to the currency of the State to provide them negative for bank notes. He also said that the Ministry of Defence has provided the serial numbers for the money. The first batch of notes in the amount of Rp.19.2 billion, were printed in September 1999 and ordered the destruction because they were too low in quality, but some of them ended up in traffic in Jakarta.
The Suharto notes were withdrawn from circulation in 1999 and an Australian company was contracted to print new banknotes in denomination Rp.100,000 polymer for Indonesia. In 2004, these were replaced by the 100,000 red notes featuring fathers Sukarno and Hatta founder.
Advances in computer technology and printing make it easier to get money. One of the most difficult to fake the current details Indonesian currency is the 'patch' that appears in the lower right corner on the face of 100,000, 50,000 and 20,000 notes. In short, these spots appear dull, but they reflect or change color when tilted under a bright light. The quality of paper is often a gift, such as high value notes are printed on paper imported from Europe, while the local paper is used for Rp.5,000 and lower notes. The central bank said less than 0.01% of the rupee in circulation are counterfeit.