Indian-origin man jailed for printing fake notes

A 29-year-old Indian-origin man has been jailed for over three years for printing fake Singaporean currency notes here, according to a media report. Sasi Kumar Lakshmanan decided to print fake notes of SGD 100 and SGD 50.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Magdalene Huang said Lakshmanan decided to print some counterfeit currency notes as he was facing a financial crisis.

He realised the photocopy of SGD 100 note was almost the same as the genuine one. Following this, he photocopied notes that closely resembled a genuine SGD 100 note. He then printed another four copies of the notes and cut them to the right size, The Straits Times reported. The next day, he produced one of the fake SGD 100 notes to pay for two packets of cigarettes. The fake note was discovered by a stall supervisor, who complained to the police on July 13, two days after Lakshmanan first printed fake notes.

Police raided Lakshmanan’s house and found, among other things, a counterfeit SGD 50 note. Lakshmanan said he suffered from epileptic fits and had just found a job doing deliveries for a friend. 

He could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined on each charge.