banknotes
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A 46-year-old man was convicted of passing and custody of counterfeit banknotes and sentenced to five yearsˇ¦ imprisonment at District Court today (August 26).
The court heard that the man was arrested after he had passed a $500 counterfeit banknote to a newspaper vendor to buy a magazine at the New Mandarin Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui East on December 25, 2004.
In a subsequent search at the manˇ¦s place of residence in a guesthouse at Chung King Mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui, another 126 pieces of $500 counterfeit banknotes were seized.
Further investigation revealed that he had deposited two $500 counterfeit banknotes into his bank account via an automatic teller machine of a bank at East Ocean Centre Branch in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The man was later charged with two counts of passing a counterfeit banknote and one count of custody of counterfeit banknotes.
The 46-year-old man was convicted of the offences after trial at District Court yesterday (August 25). The court accepted Policeˇ¦s application for enhanced sentencing under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance and sentenced the man to five yearsˇ¦ imprisonment today.
Police Report No.8
Ends/Friday, August 26, 2005
Issued at HKT 21:17
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