The Police have arrested a 58-year-old man and two women, aged 37 and 33, for their suspected involvement in a case of using a counterfeit S$10,000 currency note.
On 22 September 2021 at about 1.50pm, the Police received a report where a man had allegedly presented a counterfeit S$10,000 portrait series currency note to a counter staff of a bank located at Blk 449 Clementi Ave 3. The man had allegedly requested to exchange the S$10,000 portrait series currency note into smaller denominations. The staff identified the note to be counterfeit and alerted the Police.
Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department arrested the 58-year-old man and quickly established the identities of two other women suspected to be involved in the case. A counterfeit S$10,000 currency note, a red packet and a fake document purportedly issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), were seized as case exhibits. Police investigations are ongoing.
The Police take a serious view of any person found criminally involved in counterfeit currency. Below are the punishments, upon conviction, for the more common offences related to counterfeit currency:
- Using as genuine counterfeit currency notes under Section 489B of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Rev Ed), which carries a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and a fine.
- Making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting currency or bank notes under Section 489D of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Rev Ed), which carries a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years and a fine.
The Police would like to remind members of the public to be wary of people offering to provide money for assistance to exchange counterfeit S$10,000 or other large denomination currency notes with genuine currency notes of smaller denominations at banks or other financial institutions. If you have received any suspected counterfeit currency note, you should:
- Call the Police at ‘999’ immediately;
- Note down the description of the person(s) who presented the counterfeit note, including gender, race, age, height, built, clothing, tattoo and language/dialect spoken;
- Note the description of any vehicle used, including its registration number; and
- Limit the handling of the suspected counterfeit note and place it in a protective covering, such as an envelope or folded paper, to prevent further tampering, and hand it over to the Police immediately.
Information on the security features of genuine Singapore currency is available on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s website at: https://www.mas.gov.sg/currency/Identifying-Genuine-Currency.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
25 September 2021 @ 5:15 PM