An Indonesian man who received a counterfeit Singapore $10,000 note from his girlfriend came to Singapore and tried to deposit it in his unsuspecting uncle’s bank account.
Aurick Kenji Almira Valeryan, 22, did this despite suspecting that the money was fake and was caught after a bank officer examined the note.
On Feb 25, he was sentenced to seven months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of using the counterfeit note as genuine currency.
Court documents stated that Aurick was in Indonesia in May 2025, when his girlfriend, known only as “Abrillia”, handed him the fake note.
She claimed that she could not exchange the note to Indonesian rupiah because its denomination was “too great”.
Abrillia then asked Aurick to help her exchange the note.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia said: “Abrillia informed the accused that she had obtained the note from a subordinate at a confectionery warehouse where she worked and that the subordinate had found the note in a safe deposit box in an empty shop.”
Aurick knew that Abrillia’s claim as to how she came across the note was not credible.
Despite this, he tried to help her exchange it for Indonesian rupiah at money changers in his home country, but they rejected his request.
He then decided to travel to Singapore to deposit the note in a bank account and remit the money later.
He did so as he wanted to use the money to improve his and Abrillia’s financial situations, said the DPP.
Aurick arrived in Singapore on Aug 14, 2025, and contacted his Singapore-based uncle, who had a bank account here.
He asked his uncle to accompany him to the bank so that the note could be deposited into the latter’s account.
Aurick lied to his uncle, claiming he had obtained the note from a customer at a shop where he worked.
The uncle, who did not know the money was fake, agreed to help Aurick.
At around 2pm the next day, the two men went to one of the bank’s branches in Clementi, and Aurick asked a bank officer to deposit the note into his uncle’s account.
DPP Ngia said: “The bank officer questioned Aurick about the note’s origins. Aurick lied... stating that he obtained it as a bonus from his boss in Indonesia.
“The accused also lied to the... bank officer that he had already verified the note’s legitimacy with a... bank in Indonesia.”
The bank officer examined the note and noticed several suspicious features about it. Among other things, the note appeared faded and its ink resolution was poor.
The officer informed his superior about the situation and the latter alerted the authorities.
In an earlier statement, the police said Aurick was arrested soon after and the counterfeit note was seized.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore later examined the note and confirmed that it was fake.
On Feb 25, the DPP asked the court to sentence Aurick to up to a year in jail, stressing that the potential harm involved in his offence was “certainly great”.
He added: “(The bank) would have deposited a sum of $10,000 into the... account in exchange for a worthless counterfeit note, if not for the bank officer’s diligence.”
Aurick’s offence also had the potential to undermine public confidence in Singapore’s status as a financial hub, said DPP Ngia.
[[nid:730416]]
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
