Tasikmalaya. Police said on Thursday that they have arrested three individuals who tried to exchange 1,144 counterfeit Rp 100,000 banknotes at a branch of the central bank in Tasikmalaya, West Java.

Bank employees promptly identified the fake banknotes without the use of a note detector and immediately alerted the authorities.

“The suspects, hailing from Depok, arrived in Tasikmalaya with counterfeit notes intending to exchange them at a local Bank Indonesia office,” Tasikmalaya Metropolitan Police Chief Joko Sulistiono said in a press conference.

Bank employees confirmed the inauthenticity of the banknotes and reported the incident to the police for further investigation, he added.

“The suspects were fully aware that they were carrying counterfeit banknotes. We are still probing into their motive,” Joko commented.

The individuals are facing charges under the currency law, which entails a maximum prison sentence of 15 years for money counterfeiting.

Aswin Kosotali, the head of Bank Indonesia’s Tasikmalaya branch, said money counterfeiting is a severe crime and is considered an “attack on the national symbol of unity and sovereignty.”