A sample of an old 10,000-yen banknote is seen in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Aug. 30, 2021. (Mainichi/Kotaro Adachi)

       TOKYO -- Two Vietnamese nationals working in Japan who have been indicted for circulating counterfeit currency were served fresh arrest warrants by Tokyo police on Nov. 4 on suspicion of importing counterfeit former 10,000-yen (about $88) notes with a portrait of the 6th-7th century Japanese prince Shotoku Taishi printed on them.

       Tran Thi Trang and Tran Nam Phong, 26-year-old cousins working as company employees and living together in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) second investigation department. Both suspects have been previously arrested and indicted for using counterfeit former 10,000-yen banknotes at convenience stores and other locations in the capital in August. Investigators say they are looking into the matter with a view that the pair used forged banknotes imported from Vietnam.

       In relation to the latest arrests, the pair are suspected of working with third parties in around early September to hide 400 bogus 10,000-yen bills in international mail, and importing them by sending the package from a post office in Vietnam to Narita Airport in east Japan's Chiba Prefecture. Some 530 counterfeit 10,000-yen notes have been confiscated from the suspects' home and elsewhere.

       Between mid- and late August, the use of around 190 fake 10,000-yen notes was confirmed at convenience stores and other locations in 13 Tokyo wards including Shinjuku and Shibuya. These are imitations of the former 10,000-yen notes bearing a portrait of Shotoku Taishi, which stopped being issued in 1986. The phony bills are very detailed and even include watermarks. Their serial numbers start with the non-existent PS series, and end in N.

       (Japanese original by Kotaro Adachi, Tokyo City News Department)

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