Fake US banknotes land senior citizen behind bars

KUALA LUMPUR: A senior citizen has been sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Sessions Court here for possessing 12 counterfeit United States banknotes amounting to US$1,200 three months ago.

Judge Azrul Darus handed down the sentence to trader Woo Tuck Lab, 64, after he pleaded guilty to the charge and ordered him to serve his jail term starting from the date of his arrest on June 20.

Section 489C of the Penal Code, which deals with possessing counterfeit currency notes, provides for a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Woo was charged with possessing 12 counterfeit US$100 notes on June 20 at a nasi kandar restaurant in Jalan Ampang, with the intention of passing them off as genuine.

Deputy Public Prosecutor R. Harvind sought an appropriate punishment as a lesson to the accused, considering that the offence he committed undermined the public's trust in the nation's financial institutions.

Lawyer Fahizul Amar Mohd Zulkifli, who represented the accused, requested that his client be sentenced to prison for three months starting from the date of arrest, citing the accused's lack of previous criminal record.

"My client is a trader and has no fixed income. The counterfeit money was obtained from his friend, and the accused did not know that possessing counterfeit money is wrong," he said, adding that his client now lives alone because he has no family. – Bernama