Man in possession of counterfeit money said he did not know notes were fake

The defendant told a Dubai court he had borrowed the money to send to his family back home so they could build a house.

DUBAI // A man accused of possessing counterfeit US dollars said he did not know that they were fake.

“I borrowed $15,000 (Dh55,086) from a friend so that I could build a house for my family in India,” said K F.

“When I went to wire the money to India, some of the dollar bills were found to be fake, but I didn’t know that,” the 46-year-old said.

He is facing a charge of possessing and using fake money.

Prosecutors said K F was not arrested when trying to wire the money, instead he was arrested when he tried to buy gold with the dollar notes.

A Y, an airport security guard from Morocco, said he received a phone call from a gold shop that it suspected a customer of using fake US dollar bills.

When he went there, he was shown 28 $100 bills.

All but one was fake, he said.

K F told police that the money was his salary, but later said a currency-exchange dealer in Iraq had given him the money on a recent visit to the country.

Police found $13,800 in fake notes on him.

K F was referred to prosecution and subsequently to court.

The next hearing will be on February 5.