A 33-year-old man wanted for using counterfeit 10,000 yen notes in Koshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, was arrested in Fukuoka Prefecture on Monday, police officials said.

Koji Higa, unemployed and from Fukuoka Prefecture, was put on a wanted list after he tried in vain to use two homemade 10,000 yen bills at a drugstore in Koshi on Dec. 24.

According to police, Higa asked a shop clerk to change the notes into smaller bills. After doing so, however, the clerk noticed the notes were bogus and caught up with the suspect as he was trying to escape by car.

The clerk seized Higa and took his driver's license, but Higa escaped on foot and disappeared. Inside the vehicle, police found about 500 fake 10,000 yen notes and a printer equipped with color-photocopying functions.

Higa was arrested by Fukuoka police when he showed up at his parents' house in the town of Mizumaki, the officials said.