Malaysia: Fake notes made with help from noodle machine
Gang caught after police raid condo
June 22, 2009
THREE unemployed friends had a sure-fire answer to their money woes.
Whenever they needed to shop at the local pasar malam (night market in Malay) or provision shop, the three Malaysians would just print how much they needed.
With just a computer and digital printer, they would scan images of RM50 ($21)and RM10 notes, print them out on quality A4-size paper and wax the notes with a noodle flattener, reported The Star.
Working from an apartment at Athenaeum Tower condominium in the Jalan Ampang area, the trio then used the notes to shop at local sundry shops or pasar malams.
But they could not keep their scam under wraps for long. Police who were looking for a group of armed men raided the apartment they were living at 1am on Wednesday.
The cops stumbled upon the trio - a 40-year-old man, his 33-year-old girlfriend and their 36-year-old friend - who were then producing hundreds of the RM50 and RM10 notes, reported Harian Metro.
The friends, who were all unemployed for more than six months, will now possibly face long jail terms.
Ampang Jaya police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan told Harian Metro they seized a computer, a laptop, a scanner, a colour printer, a noodle flattener from the apartment, as well as stacks of A4-size paper that had been printed with the design of RM50 and RM10 notes.
They were to be thinly laminated before use.
He said the fake notes all had the same serial number and believed that the three friends only used the money at provision shops and pasar malams as the shopkeepers would not be as careful in checking the cash as employees at shopping centres.
Chance encounter
Assistant Commissioner Abdul Jalil asked anyone who had received such fake notes to hand them in to the police.
He said the police came upon the trio by chance while in the middle of investigations into the whereabouts of a group of armed men in the area.
He added that the three friends were believed to be part of a syndicate and they had nearly RM10,000 in fake money when they were nabbed.
He said police were checking if the group had used the money to buy other items besides groceries or if they had been involved in other criminal activities.
He said the trio had been operating for about five months and police are investigating the suspects for printing counterfeit money.
Condominium residents told Harian Metro and The Star that they had wondered how the three friends could afford to live so comfortably in the apartment despite having no jobs.
But they said they did not probe further as they did not think it was their business.
Source:
http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,205700,00.html? 
Connect with Facebook
TOTW/F/M Award(s): 6
Malaysia: Fake notes made with help from noodle machine 
Re: Malaysia: Fake notes made with help from noodle machine 
Linear Mode
