http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,200160,00.html?
Was hawker cheated with fake $50 note?
By Crystal Chan
April 27, 2009
FIRST TIME: Madam Goh giving her statement to a police officer outside her stall. She says she has never been cheated before. --TNP PICTURE: CRYSTAL CHAN
A NOODLE stallholder in a Toa Payoh coffee shop fears she is $50 poorer after selling a $2.50 plate of wonton mee to a man yesterday.
Madam Goh Sok Eng, 55, believes the $50 note he handed her as payment is a fake, though she did not spot that before giving him change of $47.50.
Only later did she realise that security features on the $50 note, such as the vertical silver line and a watermark of Singapore's first President, Mr Yusof Ishak, were either faded or missing.
When The New Paper on Sunday arrived at the Sing Hiap Huat coffee shop in Block 19, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, Madam Goh was giving a statement to two police officers, who had placed the note in a plastic bag.
Madam Goh said that the incident happened around 10.15am, when the coffee shop was packed with the breakfast crowd.
'I was so busy so I didn't have a close look at the note, which was folded. I simply threw it into a metal container,' she said in Mandarin.
At 11.30am, when she was counting her takings, she realised something was wrong with the note.
'I went to my neighbour's shop and asked him what I should do.'
The neighbour, Mr Steven Tang, a mini-mart owner, called the police after examining the note.
Another case
Mr Tang, chairman of the Toa Payoh Lorong 7 Shopkeepers & Hawkers Association, said it was not the first time this had happened.
He said: 'Another shopkeeper told me he was tricked last week. He didn't go to the police but he jotted down the serial number of the note.'
The serial number - 2EY32272725 - is the same as that of the note she got, said Madam Goh. It is not known what the other shopkeeper did with the note.
Madam Goh, who has two school-going children, said: 'My son's teacher taught the class how to recognise a real note and he told me to be careful. Who would have thought this would happen to me?'
Madam Goh also rues not taking note of the customer's appearance.
All she remembers is that he is a Chinese man in his late 30s or early 40s.
She said: 'I recognise my regular customers and he isn't one of them. I was so busy serving customers that I didn't pay attention to his appearance.'
Upset over being cheated of her 'hard-earned money', Madam Goh added: 'I gave him real money and he had a free meal at my expense.
'I have to sell 20 bowls of wonton mee to recoup my loss, and I haven't counted my takings for today yet.
'The next time someone pays for noodles with a $50 note, I'll scrutinise it before accepting payment.'
Mr Tang has alerted shopkeepers and stallholders in the area to the incident.
A police spokesman said they received a call at 2.35pm, about a customer using a fake $50 note.
He said: 'The note was seized and investigations are ongoing.'
Anyone convicted of using fake currency can be jailed up to 20 years and fined.
Was hawker cheated with fake $50 note?
By Crystal Chan
April 27, 2009
FIRST TIME: Madam Goh giving her statement to a police officer outside her stall. She says she has never been cheated before. --TNP PICTURE: CRYSTAL CHAN
A NOODLE stallholder in a Toa Payoh coffee shop fears she is $50 poorer after selling a $2.50 plate of wonton mee to a man yesterday.
Madam Goh Sok Eng, 55, believes the $50 note he handed her as payment is a fake, though she did not spot that before giving him change of $47.50.
Only later did she realise that security features on the $50 note, such as the vertical silver line and a watermark of Singapore's first President, Mr Yusof Ishak, were either faded or missing.
When The New Paper on Sunday arrived at the Sing Hiap Huat coffee shop in Block 19, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, Madam Goh was giving a statement to two police officers, who had placed the note in a plastic bag.
Madam Goh said that the incident happened around 10.15am, when the coffee shop was packed with the breakfast crowd.
'I was so busy so I didn't have a close look at the note, which was folded. I simply threw it into a metal container,' she said in Mandarin.
At 11.30am, when she was counting her takings, she realised something was wrong with the note.
'I went to my neighbour's shop and asked him what I should do.'
The neighbour, Mr Steven Tang, a mini-mart owner, called the police after examining the note.
Another case
Mr Tang, chairman of the Toa Payoh Lorong 7 Shopkeepers & Hawkers Association, said it was not the first time this had happened.
He said: 'Another shopkeeper told me he was tricked last week. He didn't go to the police but he jotted down the serial number of the note.'
The serial number - 2EY32272725 - is the same as that of the note she got, said Madam Goh. It is not known what the other shopkeeper did with the note.
Madam Goh, who has two school-going children, said: 'My son's teacher taught the class how to recognise a real note and he told me to be careful. Who would have thought this would happen to me?'
Madam Goh also rues not taking note of the customer's appearance.
All she remembers is that he is a Chinese man in his late 30s or early 40s.
She said: 'I recognise my regular customers and he isn't one of them. I was so busy serving customers that I didn't pay attention to his appearance.'
Upset over being cheated of her 'hard-earned money', Madam Goh added: 'I gave him real money and he had a free meal at my expense.
'I have to sell 20 bowls of wonton mee to recoup my loss, and I haven't counted my takings for today yet.
'The next time someone pays for noodles with a $50 note, I'll scrutinise it before accepting payment.'
Mr Tang has alerted shopkeepers and stallholders in the area to the incident.
A police spokesman said they received a call at 2.35pm, about a customer using a fake $50 note.
He said: 'The note was seized and investigations are ongoing.'
Anyone convicted of using fake currency can be jailed up to 20 years and fined.
