The Police have charged two men, aged 66 and 39, on 24 March 2022 for their suspected involvement in engaging in a conspiracy to possess and use as genuine five counterfeit Singapore $10,000 notes.
On 22 March 2022, at about 11am, the two men were at the DBS Bank at Plaza Singapura, No. 68 Orchard Road #B1-25, Singapore, when the 66-year-old man allegedly presented three Singapore $10,000 notes and one Singapore $1,000 note to the bank teller, to be deposited into his corporate bank account. Upon receipt of the notes, the bank teller suspected that the $10,000 notes were counterfeit and only credited the $1,000 note into the corporate account.
Police was subsequently alerted and arrested both men after preliminary investigations. A total of five counterfeit Singapore $10,000 notes were seized, including two additional counterfeit notes that the older man had surrendered to the Police.
Officers also raided the residence of the older man and hotel room of the younger man and recovered some documents believed to be forged.
The Police take a serious view of any person found criminally involved in counterfeit currency. Below are the punishments for the more common offences related to counterfeit currency:
- Forging or counterfeiting currency or bank notes under Section 489A of the Penal Code 1871 - punishable with an imprisonment term of up to 20 years, and a fine.
- Using as genuine counterfeit currency notes under Section 489B of the Penal Code 1871 - punishable with an imprisonment term of up to 20 years, and a fine.
- Possession of forged or counterfeit currency or bank notes under Section 489C of the Penal Code 1871 - punishable with an imprisonment term of up to 15 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 1871 - punishable with an imprisonment of up to 20 years, and a fine.
The public is reminded to be wary of counterfeit notes. If you have received any suspected counterfeit notes, 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 the vehicle used, if any, 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 March 2022 @ 5:10 PM