Duo detained over counterfeit bills
KUCHING: Police detained two individuals on Sunday in connection with the printing of counterfeit money.
State Commercial CID chief Supt Mustafa Kamal Gani Abdullah said they were a local man, aged 35, and an Indonesian woman, aged 30.
He said a tip- off led to the arrests in a hotel room at Jalan Mathies at 7pm.
“The suspects are being remanded for seven days to facilitate the investigation,” Mustafa said when contacted yesterday.
Among others, police seized two bags in the hotel room containing 205 pieces of imperfect RM100 bills and 19 perfect RM100 bills, all believed to be counterfeit, a money detector device, three mobile phones, a printer, and colour pencils.
“Apart from that, police also recovered a stolen car, which bore a fake registration number. Upon further checks, police found that the vehicle chassis number matched a vehicle which was reported missing recently,” he added.
Mustafa said the suspects were not involved in a syndicate, as based on the initial investigation the counterfeit bills were produced and used by the suspects themselves.
He disclosed the suspects were involved in four previous cases related to counterfeit currency and suspected to be involved in 17 similar cases.
The case is being investigated under Section 489D of the Penal Code for making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting currency notes or bank notes, which provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years and a fine.