SINGAPORE, Sept 19 — An Indonesian businessman is assisting Singapore police with investigations after allegedly using 34 counterfeit S$10,000 notes worth S$340,000 (RM1.09 million) at Resorts World Sentosa’s casino over three visits in June.

The businessman, identified only as Steven, allegedly exchanged the notes for casino chips after they were accepted as genuine, The Straits Times reported today.

His lawyer Yosia Ginting told the newspaper on September 17 that Steven had no idea the notes were counterfeit and was himself a victim of fraud.

“Steven is a victim of fraud and is not part of a counterfeit money ring. We have reported to the South Tangerang police about this case,” Yosia was quoted as saying.

The lawyer said Steven received the Singapore currency as payment for a shophouse he was selling in South Tangerang, a satellite town near Jakarta.

He had been introduced to a man named Anthony through a friend, and Anthony initially gave him one S$10,000 note (RM32,000), on June 8, claiming he wanted to exchange the old banknote.

The friend, identified only as Rangga, allegedly reassured Steven that the note had been checked at an OCBC branch in Indonesia and found to be genuine.

Steven then took the note to Singapore, where a money changer declined to accept it because of its high denomination.

At Resorts World Sentosa, however, a VIP host allegedly suggested that he change the note at the casino, where it was subsequently accepted and exchanged for chips.

Anthony later handed Steven another 33 S$10,000 notes, telling him the money was an inheritance from his parents and that he wanted the notes changed into smaller denominations in Singapore.

The businessman then returned to Singapore and allegedly deposited 27 of the notes at the casino, while six remained in Indonesia.

The Straits Times reported that Steven was later stopped by casino security and police on June 26 after returning to Singapore with his wife, children and the seller’s daughter to settle a separate property payment.

The six remaining notes had been used as part-payment for a house in Pamulang, Banten, but the seller’s daughter had difficulty exchanging them with a money changer in Jakarta.

When Steven was stopped at the casino, he was told that the serial numbers on some of the six notes matched those of notes he had exchanged during his earlier visits, according to his lawyer.

Steven was subsequently questioned at the Police Cantonment Complex and told he was being investigated for bringing a large amount of cash into Singapore without declaring it, circulating counterfeit currency and using counterfeit currency.

His passport and mobile phone were surrendered to the authorities, while his lawyer said Steven had been told he would have to remain in Singapore for three to six months while investigations were completed.

South Tangerang police chief Superintendent Boy Jumalolo told The Straits Times that Indonesian and Singapore police had discussed the case during a September 14 meeting via Zoom.

“At that meeting, we asked the SPF to issue a letter stating that the 34 notes from 1973 in the S$10,000 denomination, which have been seized, are counterfeit.

“To date, Indonesian investigators have only received a copy of the seizure receipt, which describes them as ‘believed to be non genuine’,” he said.

He added that Indonesian investigators were now summoning witnesses.

A Singapore Police Force spokesman confirmed that a report had been lodged and said investigations were ongoing.

The S$10,000 note was first issued in 1973 but was discontinued in 2014, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore stopped issuing S$1,000 notes in 2021.

MAS said the discontinuation of the two high-denomination notes was a pre-emptive measure to reduce money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks associated with large-value banknotes.

Singapore law provides for a jail term of up to 20 years for those convicted of using forged or counterfeit banknotes.

The case is not the first involving counterfeit S$10,000 notes, with an Indonesian man sentenced to seven months’ jail in February after trying to deposit a counterfeit note into his uncle’s bank account.

In 2025, another Indonesian man was charged after allegedly trying to deposit a counterfeit S$10,000 note at a DBS branch in Singapore.