Swedish man arrested for fake euro currency caper in Phuket

Police arrested a Swedish man in the Patong sub-district of Katu district, Phuket province, after discovering that he exchanged money using fake euro banknotes.

Patong Police Station officers received a complaint from an employer at the Violet Money Exchange 2 on Saen Saai Road that a Swedish man was exchanging money using counterfeit euro notes at 1.50pm on February 26. The employer delayed the exchange while waiting for the police to arrive.

Officers managed to arrest the foreigner in time before he drove away from the exchange office. The suspect was identified as a 31 year old Swedish man, Jamal Abdo. Police searched Abdo and seized 10 fake 200-euro bills, which is about 78,000 baht.

Officers and the money exchange store did not clarify details of the deceptive money exchange to the public.

According to Matichon, the Swedish man was charged under Section 244 of the Criminal Law: possessing counterfeit currency. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 20,000 to 300,000 baht.

He also faces imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both according to Section 245 of the Criminal Law: using counterfeit banknotes.

Officers reported they would question Abdo and his conduct in a thorough investigation into the case to determine whether he committed the crime alone or with other suspects.

A similar arrest was made in Phuket three weeks ago when a British man, 33 year old Tobias Drew, was caught using counterfeit euro notes to exchange for 37,850 baht. He claimed to have bought counterfeit euro notes with cryptocurrency and used the fake currency to exchange money in Phuket since December last year.

In another related story reported in January this year, two Thai men were arrested in the Isaan province of Buriram for selling counterfeit US dollar notes. They sold counterfeit US$100 notes worth US$80,000 for 200,000 baht.

The two suspects denied making the fake bills and said they were responsible for selling the counterfeit notes. They blamed another Thai man, who managed to evade arrest that day, for making the counterfeit money.