Teen stole $2,000 from mum, made fake $100 notes

A 16-year-old took her mother's ATM card and stole $2,000 from the bank account.

When the money ran out, Azlynn Elisa Zainal Abidin made nine counterfeit $100 notes with boyfriend Mohd Ikram Mohamed Thahir, using a scanner and printer at his Haig Road flat.

Now 17 and a waitress, she was sentenced on Wednesday to 21/2 years' probation for theft and using counterfeit currency. She was also ordered to do 200 hours of community service.

She will serve her first year of probation in the Pertapis Centre For Women and Girls.

The teen pleaded guilty earlier this month to theft and to using counterfeit currency.

Then, a district court heard that she withdrew $2,000 of her mother's money from an ATM near her Yishun home on Oct 23 last year. Madam Som Hassan, 50, made a police report that night.

Azlynn Elisa and unemployed Mohd Ikram, 26, later used a dud $100 note on Feb 23 to pay for cigarettes at a provision shop along Haig Road, and received change of $89.60.

The shop owner realised the note was a fake and informed the police.

The couple also tried to buy clothes at another shop but the salesgirl would not accept their $100 note. Four days later, they returned to the provision shop, where they were arrested.

The charges for counterfeiting and attempted use of a fake note were taken into consideration by the judge when passing sentence. Just for using the dud currency, the teenager could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined.

Mohd Ikram was jailed for three years on Nov 6.

khush@sph.com.sg

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