Sharjah: Police have arrested a businessman for trying to exchange a forged $100 bill in Sharjah.
The 47-year-old Ethiopian businessman who came to the country on a one-month tourist visa was arrested by police a few days after his arrival for exchanging a $100 forged note.
Police said the accused, who is identified as M.M. and is a regular visitor to the UAE, told police that he went to a money exchange in Sharjah to exchange 13,000 Saudi riyals and $400 and he was not aware that there was a fake $100 bill among the $400.
Police said the money exchange agency informed them that there was a man attempting to exchange a fake $100 note.
Police said the exchange agency asked the man to hand them his passport when they discovered the fake note. The man was taken to the criminal and investigation department at Sharjah Police where he was bailed out and his case transferred to the public prosecutor.
Auto trader
M.M. said he had visited the UAE more than 11 times as he buys vehicles from here and sends them to his country. He said he has been stuck in the country for almost two months.
"My tourist visa has expired and I have no money," he said.
He said that if he wished to exchange fake dollars, he would not have done so at a currency exchange.
M.M. said he is stranded in the UAE and he is now an illegal resident. "My passport is with the CID and I'm stuck here. I have family and children back home," he said.
He claimed he had not yet been summoned to the court or public prosecution so far.
