MANILA, Philippines — Authorities arrested a 60-year-old man who was attempting to exchange a large sum of counterfeit US dollar bills in Makati City, the Southern Police District (SPD) said on Tuesday.

In a report, SPD said operatives of Makati City Police Station collared the suspect who yielded P27 million worth of fake US dollar bills at a foreign exchange broker along Perea Street, Legazpi Village, last July 17.

His arrest stemmed from a complaint police received from the company director and representative of the foreign exchange broker.

“Investigation revealed that the suspect had earlier visited a local bank to exchange the counterfeit bills, but due to the large amount involved, the bank referred the suspect to the said company. Upon verification at the exchange office, the cashier suspected the money to be fake and promptly informed the management, leading to the suspect’s arrest,” SPD said.

Aside from the fake US dollar bills, police also confiscated a metal box containing more counterfeit bills. All recovered evidence was turned over to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for verification and to determine the extent of the counterfeit operation.