Man charged with uttering counterfeit notes

Detectives from Devonport Police have charged a 24 year old man from Devonport with 5 counts of uttering counterfeit money and 3 counts of dishonestly acquiring a financial advantage.

Police will allege that the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, entered 5 stores in the areas of Burnie, Ulverstone, Elizabeth Town and Deloraine between 10 December 2015 and 13 December 2015 paying for food items with the fake currency.

Detective Senior Constable Felicity BOYD of Devonport CIB stated “We are alleging that on three of these occasions, the man was successful in paying for food items with the fake note and receiving change in genuine Australian currency.   It is because of this, the man is being charged with the additional offences as he has fraudulently obtained a financial advantage.”

Detective BOYD stated “We would like to thank members of the public who provided information that led to these charges.  We are still investigating other incidents where counterfeit notes have been uttered at businesses in Devonport and Latrobe and are we are fully committed to gathering evidence against the person or people responsible for manufacturing these notes.”

Police are also taking this opportunity to notify members of the business community of fake refund vouchers.  Detective BOYD confirmed that police had recently been informed that an attempt had been made at a local supermarket to utter a fake refund voucher valued at $45.00.  Detective BOYD confirmed that this was the only report police were aware of but that it was timely to remind businesses and their staff to be aware of possible fake vouchers and to report any concerns to police.

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