Man who used counterfeit S$50 notes to pay for food charged in court

SINGAPORE — A 21-year-old man was charged in court on Tuesday (Feb 13) for using counterfeit notes to pay for meals at a convenience store.

Ng Kah Chun faces two counts of using the counterfeit S$50 portrait series notes – an offence that could see him thrown behind bars for up to 20 years, and fined, if convicted.

A police press statement on Tuesday said it received a report that two fake S$50 notes were used to pay for items at a convenience store at Choa Chu Kang Street 51 on Monday.

Ng’s identity was established subsequently through investigations. He was arrested on Monday evening.

“A printer, a laptop and several pieces of S$50 and S$100 notes, which are believed to be counterfeits, were seized as case exhibits,” said the police.

Court documents showed that Ng, who is unemployed, had also presented a counterfeit note on Feb 11, at around 8pm, to pay for food items worth S$28.50.

He returns to court on Feb 27.

The police said on Tuesday that the counterfeit notes — believed to be photocopied versions — lack the requisite security features like a watermark.

They said the simulated security features such as the kinegram and security-thread are also distinctively different from those on genuine notes. The surface of the counterfeit notes also lack the embossed feel on genuine notes,” they added.

This is at least the second case of counterfeit notes being used in recent months.

In November, a secondary school teacher was sentenced to three years’ jail for using fake S$100 notes to pay a prostitute. He had claimed that the notes were meant as a teaching tool for students to learn about currency exchange.

Those who suspect they have received a counterfeit note should delay the presenter if possible, make a police report, and observe the presenter’s physical appearance, said the police on Tuesday.

The suspected note should be enclosed in a protective covering to prevent tampering, and be handed over to the police immediately, it added.