Pair caught at MBS charged with conspiracy to counterfeit over 100 pieces of Singapore $100 notes

SINGAPORE - At least 121 pieces of Singapore $100 bills with the same serial number were discovered at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) hotel after a man tried to change a counterfeit $100 note at the MBS casino.

Yang Zelong, 33, later led police to his hotel room where officers found counterfeiting instruments including ink, paper and a paper cutter.

A woman spotted leaving his hotel room was also detained.

Han Wenqian, 25, was seen carrying a printer and allegedly had in her possession 121 counterfeit Singapore $100 bills.

The two Chinese nationals were on Aug 26 charged with engaging in a conspiracy to counterfeit Singapore currency notes.

Courts documents show that the alleged offences took place at the hotel between Aug 20 and 24.

Police in an earlier statement said that they were alerted to the case when a cashier at the casino contacted the authorities after Yang tried to deposit $150,000 into his casino account at about 4am on Aug 24.

The cashier had noticed the word “COPY” printed on one of the notes.

The pair’s case will be mentioned again in court on Sept 2.

For engaging in a conspiracy to counterfeit Singapore currency notes, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.