Committed the Crime by Paying with 50,000 Won Bills and Receiving Change
Admitted, "I Did It Because I Needed Living Expenses"
A man in his 40s who purchased and circulated counterfeit bills from an acquaintance he met through a prison inmate acquaintance was arrested by the police.
The Gwangju Seobu Police Station arrested A, a day laborer in his 40s, on the 10th on charges of deceiving merchants using counterfeit 50,000 won bills (possession and use of counterfeit currency, fraud, etc.).
A is suspected of using or attempting to use one counterfeit 50,000 won bill at three convenience stores in the Pungam-dong area of Seo-gu, Gwangju, from the 6th of last month to the 4th of this month to purchase goods.
A purchased 25 counterfeit 50,000 won bills for 100,000 won from B, a man in his 40s whom he met through a prison inmate acquaintance, and committed these acts by buying a pack of cigarettes and receiving 45,500 won in change.
At a grocery store in Pungam-dong where he worked briefly as a part-time employee, he tried to exchange a counterfeit 50,000 won bill for five 10,000 won bills with the owner. He also stole daily necessities worth about 2 million won, including drinking water and food.
The store owner became suspicious because the counterfeit bills lacked features such as the smiling image of Shin Saimdang or holograms, and reported it to the police, leading to A’s arrest on the 4th as a suspect caught in the act.
The police confiscated all 25 counterfeit bills, including 24 bills found on A at the scene and one used for payment.
A, who was released from prison in December last year, admitted to the crime during police questioning, stating that he did it because he needed living expenses. The police are investigating B, who lives in the Chungcheong Province, on suspicion of fraud, believing that B purchased fake money used for children's games on the internet and sold it to A while deceiving him that it was counterfeit bills.
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