A SHOP employee who sparked the arrest of an alleged counterfeiter claims to have been able to spot fake currencies since he was a child.
The 35-year-old Chinese employee alerted security at Dragon City when a Saudi man allegedly handed him a forged 500 riyal (BD50) note.
Security said they later caught the Saudi trying to flush the fake note down a toilet.
“Since I was a child I have been able to tell forged money from real money,” the employee told the High Criminal Court via a translator yesterday.
“A fat man came to my shop, but I do not remember the face of the person who accompanied him.
“The fat person gave me 500 riyals (BD50) to buy a lighter for BD2.
“I looked at the money and knew straight away it was fake.
“I informed my colleague to call security. We did this without the man noticing.
“The security guards then took the Saudi with them, but he told them he needed to go to the bathroom.
“He then attempted to flush the fake currency before he was stopped by the security guards.
“Policemen then arrived and arrested him.”
The accused has denied charges of possessing forged currency and assault.
Forged
“I did not know the money was forged,” the 35-year-old told judges yesterday.
“A friend gave it to me in Saudi Arabia.
“I cannot tell the difference and therefore cannot be found guilty of something I do not know.”
Another Saudi, 30, who was with him has denied aiding and abetting.
The alleged accomplice claimed the whole case had been fabricated by a security guard over a grudge.
“The whole story about fake currency is not true,” he claimed in court.
“A security guard made this up and implicated me in the case because I previously filed a complaint against him.
“I came to Bahrain on holiday and ended up being wrongly accused.”
However, a police officer told the court there was evidence that the Saudis knew what they were doing.
“My investigations showed the defendants had forged Saudi currency, which they planned on using in Bahrain,” the officer told judges.
“They were arrested at a mall in Muharraq.
“One of them attempted to get rid of the forged note, but he was stopped by security.”
The trial has been adjourned until December 10 for review.
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