Woman used US$1,900 in fake bills, prosecutors say

Visitor was found with more than US$1,000 more in counterfeit notes, according to court records.

DUBAI // A female visitor denied smuggling fake currency and attempting to use it to shop at a duty free store, a Dubai court heard this morning.

The suspect KM, 44, from New Zealand, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance that she did not know the US dollars she had were fake.

Prosecutors said that on November 11, 2010, the woman arrived at Dubai International Airport for a visit to the UAE.

While she was shopping at the arrivals Duty Free Zone, KM purchased five HTC mobile phones, an earpiece and a mobile phone charger worth US$1,900 (Dh6,979), court records said.

Prosecutors said the suspect paid the saleswoman with $100 notes. The saleswoman tried to slide the bills under the scanner to register the sale, and it identified them as fake.

Prosecutors said the saleswoman, identified as RJ, 28, repeated the scanning process several times, using different scanners, and each time they were shown to be fake.

RJ informed her superior, who came to the shop, looked over the money and called police, records showed.

When police arrested KM, she denied knowing the bills were fake. Police found 102 fake notes in her possession, records showed.

Police said in court records that during the investigation, the suspect confessed to possessing fake currency but denied attempting to use or distribute it.

A forensics report separately confirmed the bills were fake.

KM's defence lawyer asked to cross-examine RJ.

The court will reconvene on March 28 to listen to her testimony.