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SCMP’s Asia desk

The lawyer for an Indonesian businessman arrested in Singapore for allegedly using counterfeit S$10,000 (US$7,830) notes at a casino has said his client was a victim of fraud himself.
The businessman, identified only as Steven, is accused of exchanging 34 fake S$10,000 notes for chips over three visits to the Resorts World Sentosa casino in June. The notes were accepted but later found to be counterfeit.
His lawyer, Dosma Sijabat, told Tempo news magazine on Tuesday that the fake bills did not belong to his client and that he was merely exchanging them for someone else.
Dosma said Steven was asked by three men to convert the 1973-series notes in exchange for a commission. Steven was approached because he used to work in Singapore.
The men even provided him with a video affirming they would take full responsibility if the banknotes turned out to be forged.
According to Dosma, Steven did not want to convert all the bills at once because of the huge sum involved. Instead, he conducted a trial run on June 9 and successfully converted a single S$10,000 bill at the casino. He met the three men two days later in Tangerang, a satellite town to Jakarta, to report his progress.
The next day, Steven returned to Singapore to exchange 27 of the high-denomination notes. After they were verified and accepted for deposit by the casino staff, he flew back to Jakarta again.
Upon his arrival, one of the men inquired about the transaction’s status. “Our client said, ‘This is still in process because of the large amount,’” Dosma said, adding that Steven even offered to take the man along to Singapore to oversee the exchange.

On Steven’s third visit to exchange the remaining six bills, casino security flagged them as counterfeit. Casino security and police stopped Steven and his family on June 26 after they returned to Singapore to settle a separate property payment.
Another of Steven’s lawyers, Yosia Ginting, told The Straits Times newspaper on Thursday the notes had been given to him as payment for a shophouse he was selling for 4.5 billion rupiah (US$252,600) in South Tangerang.
The prospective buyer, known only as Anthony, asked Steven to exchange the notes in Singapore, claiming they were part of his inheritance, Yosia said.
Both lawyers confirmed that Steven had since filed a report with South Tangerang police. The Straits Times also reported on Saturday that Steven was assisting Singapore police with their investigations.
South Tangerang Police Precinct Chief Boy Jumalolo confirmed the report was filed on July 3 and that investigations were ongoing. “The complainant reported allegations of fraud, embezzlement and currency counterfeiting,” Boy told Tempo.
His team held a Zoom meeting on September 14 with Singapore police representatives, including the police attache in Jakarta, during which they asked for an official declaration certifying that the 34 notes were indeed counterfeit.
To date, Boy said, the investigators had received only a casino receipt bearing the notation “believed to be non-genuine”.
“As for our next steps, investigators are summoning additional witnesses while awaiting an official reply from the Singapore Police Force,” he added.

Until it was taken out of circulation, the S$10,000 note was one of the highest denomination bills in the world.
In July 2014, the Monetary Authority of Singapore stopped issuing new notes to reduce risks of money laundering and financial crime. Notes in circulation are still legal tender but retailers or money changers typically do not accept them.
Over the years, some Indonesians have been convicted of using counterfeit $10,000 banknotes in Singapore.
In February, an Indonesian man was arrested when he tried to deposit a fake S$10,000 bill from his girlfriend into his unsuspecting uncle’s bank account. The 22-year-old was sentenced to seven months’ jail.
Last year, a 36-year-old Indonesian man was charged with attempting to do the same thing at the DBS South Bridge branch at Hong Lim Complex.
The penalty for using forged or counterfeit banknotes in Singapore includes a fine and a maximum jail term of 20 years.


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Dosma Sijabat says the 34 counterfeit S$10,000 notes did not belong to his client, who was merely exchanging them for someone else


Dosma Sijabat says the 34 counterfeit S$10,000 notes did not belong to his client, who was merely exchanging them for someone else.


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Indonesian arrested in Singapore over fake banknotes was victim of fraud: lawyer

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Dosma Sijabat says the 34 counterfeit S$10,000 notes did not belong to his client, who was merely exchanging them for someone else

Dosma Sijabat says the 34 counterfeit S$10,000 notes did not belong to his client, who was merely exchanging them for someone else