Al Fardan worker denies knowing of fake rupees

M S A, an Indian who worked at the Al Fardan Exchange, had counterfeit currency with an apparent value of 106,000 Indian rupees (Dh5,930) in his till, the Federal Supreme Court heard. The defendant denied the charges.

ABU DHABI // A cashier at a money exchange appeared at the Federal Supreme Court on Monday accused of accepting large sums of fake currency.

M S A, an Indian who worked at the Al Fardan Exchange, had counterfeit currency with an apparent value of 106,000 Indian rupees (Dh5,930) in his till, the court heard. The defendant denied the charges.

W S, an Egyptian who managed the branch, was called to court to testify as a witness. He said his manager received a tip-off from the CID that fake rupee notes were being circulated. He looked in the branch and found the fake currency.

“The manager found it in the cash register of the defendant and in turn reported it to the authorities. We did not know they were fake,” he said.

W S said he believed that M S A could have been unaware that the notes were fake. “There are many transactions per day and it is hard to differentiate the counterfeit notes. They were high-quality fakes and it could be that the defendant did not recognise they were fake. It could have happened unintentionally.”

The witness said similar cases had happened before, especially because the branch did not use technology to identify counterfeit bank notes.

W S said the defendant had been at the same branch for eight years and had never made mistakes in his work.

The case was adjourned to October 12.