Japanese police have placed a Chinese national on an international wanted list for allegedly distributing counterfeit Japanese bank notes, the police said Tuesday.
According to investigators, Zheng Qingying, 23, from Fujian Province, is suspected of delivering around 80 fake 10,000 yen notes to a 23-year-old Malaysian man in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August.
The police believe Zheng is the leader of a Chinese group in Japan selling fake bills believed to have been counterfeited in Taiwan. Around 3,000 10,000 yen bills, the largest denomination, are believed to have been brought into Japan. Police have confiscated 1,562 of them.
The Malaysian man was among some 20 people arrested last year on charges of using fake currency. Questioning of the suspects and other investigations have led police to believe that Zheng masterminded the distribution of a large number of notes found in areas around Tokyo and Nagoya last year, the police said.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Aichi Prefectural Police have obtained an arrest warrant for Zheng and contacted France-based Interpol to place him on a wanted list.
They have also contacted Interpol to find out the whereabouts of three other Chinese and Malaysian nationals also suspected of selling fake notes.
All notes confiscated so far have the serial number NF292682E and lack the watermark at the center found in authentic notes. They are also slightly reddish, according to the police.