Traveller cleared of charges of using fake currency at Dubai Duty Free
Woman found the money near Heathrow Airport in London, without realising it was fake
Dubai: A court in Dubai has acquitted a woman of charges of possessing fake currency. The woman passenger was transiting through Dubai Airport, when she was found possessing fake United State dollars. She was charged with possessing and promoting fake currency.
However, according to records, the judges ruled that the defendant did not know that the currency notes that she had found in the United Kingdom were fake. She tried to use one of those fake banknotes in Dubai.
The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.
The traveller was caught with fake dollars in the transit area of Dubai Airport, but she claimed that she had found the money dumped in a plastic bag near Heathrow Airport in London.
According to the Dubai Court of First Instance, the 47-year-old woman was travelling to a different destination via Dubai and went to Dubai Duty Free to buy some goods. She had initially tried to pay Dh270 using a credit card, but the payment did not go through. She then handed the salesman a $100 banknote, who found the currency to be fake. To be doubly sure, the salesman asked her to wait and checked the note at a nearby money exchange house. Upon confirmation that the note was indeed fake, he informed the police who arrested the woman.
During interrogation, the woman said that she found a bag near Heathrow Airport containing 266 banknotes of $100 denomination. She put the money in her bag and arrived at Dubai Airport, without realising that they were fake.