Indonesian man, 22, gets fake S$10,000 note from girlfriend, tries to deposit it in uncle's S'pore account, gets 7 months' jail

A 22-year-old Indonesian man who came to Singapore and tried to deposit a S$10,000 counterfeit note from his girlfriend in his unsuspecting uncle's bank account was sentenced to seven months' jail on Feb. 25, 2026.

The Straits Times reported that Aurick Kenji Almira Valeryan pleaded guilty to one count of using the counterfeit note as genuine currency.

He did so though he suspected the money was fake, according to charge sheets seen by Mothership, which added that he attempted to deposit the money at a bank's Clementi branch on Aug. 15, 2025.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the man was caught after a bank officer who examined the note noticed several suspicious features and his superior called "999".

Girlfriend gave fake note

Prior to this, in May 2025, the man who was in Indonesia, received the fake note from his girlfriend known as "Abrillia".

She asked him to help her exchange the note, claiming she could not exchange the note to Indonesia rupiah as the denomination of the note was "too great".

"Abrillia informed the accused that she had obtained the note from a subordinate at a confectionery warehouse where she worked and that the subordinate had found the note in a safe deposit box in an empty shop," said deputy public prosecutor (DPP).

The man knew that Abrillia's claim as to how she had come across the S$10,000 note in Indonesia was not credible.

However, he tried to help her exchange it for Indonesia rupiah at money changers in Indonesia, but they all rejected his request.

Deposit overseas

Following this, he decided to travel to Singapore to deposit the note in a bank account and remit the money to a bank account in Indonesia.

He then arrived in Singapore on Aug. 14, 2025, with a return flight scheduled on Aug. 16, 2025.

Since his uncle resided in Singapore, the man asked his uncle to bring him to a bank to deposit the S$10,000 note into his uncle's bank account.

After he lied to his uncle that he had obtained the note from a customer at the shop he was working in, his uncle agreed without knowing that the note was fake.

Suspicious features

On Aug. 15, 2025 at about 2pm, the man's uncle accompanied him to one of the bank's branches in Clementi where he asked the bank officer to deposit the note into his uncle's bank account.

The bank officer then questioned the man about the note's origins, to which the man lied that he obtained it as a bonus from his boss in Indonesia and had already verified the note's legitimacy with a bank in Indonesia.

Upon examining the note, the bank officer quickly noticed several suspicious features about the note as it appeared faded and its ink resolution was poor.

Caught

The officer flagged his suspicions that the note was counterfeit to his superior, who then alerted the authorities.

Following this, the Monetary Authority of Singapore confirmed the note was fake after examining it.

Penalties

The DPP, emphasising that the potential harm involved in the man's offence was "certainly great", asked the court on Feb. 25 to sentence him to up to a year in jail.

He added that the bank would have deposited a sum of "S$10,000 into the accused's uncle's bank account in exchange for a worthless counterfeit note, if not for the bank officers' diligence".

The man's offence also "had the potential to undermine public confidence in Singapore's status as a financial hub", said the DPP.

Whoever commits forgery can be punished with a jail term of up to four years, a fine, or both.

Top photos via Carousell, Canva