~ Bills with large red stains will not be accepted ~
PHILIPSBURG--All banks in St. Maarten will be accepting notes with small red marks on them, as these are “good” bills, the Bankers Association announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The Association issued a press release to provide clarity and reassure the business community and residents about the issue of red-marked bills in circulation. The Bankers Association said there is a distinct difference between bills marked with a small red marking in the corner and dye-stained bills. To ensure that all fully understand, the Association has released two samples of bills (see pictures).
The first picture (A) shows bills with a small red mark in the corner of the bill. These are good bills and will be accepted and honoured by all banks on the island.
The second picture (B) is a dye-stained bill that will not be honoured by the banks.
The Bankers Association said it considered it important to make a public announcement and provide the samples to ease the concern of the business community and the public, which has caused quite some unease.
Following the announcement by the police of dye-stained bills last week, local banks started to exercise precautions with bills marked with red. Residents complained of receiving such bills from local automated teller machines (ATMs) and the business community refused to accept them for fear of not being able to deposit such bills.
On further investigation, the Association said it realised that there were many bills in circulation that have small red marks and these bills would be honoured by the banks.
“We sincerely hope that by providing the two samples, the business community will begin accepting the bills with a small or an insignificant red mark, as the banks will honour these bills,” Bankers Association President Derek Downes said in the release.
Businesses and residents are still being advised to exercise caution in identifying bills that are heavily stained with red dye, as these will not be honoured by banks.
Police spokesperson Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson said in a press release that there was “serious confusion” in the community on how to deal with the situation once someone was in possession of suspect currency.
He said banknotes in circulation that might have “a very small discoloration around the edges” most probably were not connected to the investigation into the Rouge et Noir Casino robbery. He said persons who might have this currency in their possession and were not quite sure whether it was legitimate should contact their bank and have the money checked out.
He said businesses and persons who came in contact with partially or completely red-stained US currency or Antillean guilders should not accept them and should inform the police immediately. If anyone is in the possession of a small number of banknotes that are stained, they should take them to a bank, which will confiscate them and deliver them to the police for further investigation.
He said US and guilder currency had been stolen during the armed robbery at Rouge et Noir Casino on October 8. A “dye-pack” that was placed with the stolen money exploded and discoloured most of the banknotes.
