By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-09-18 21:06:31 | Updated at 2026-09-19 00:05:08
3 hours ago
JAKARTA – An Indonesian businessman is assisting with investigations in Singapore over the alleged use of counterfeit $10,000 notes at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino.
The Straits Times has learnt that a total of 34 counterfeit $10,000 notes were allegedly used by the businessman, identified only as Steven, over three visits to the casino in June.
ST understands the notes were accepted and exchanged for casino chips before they were detected as counterfeit.
The businessman’s Jakarta-based lawyer Yosia Ginting told ST on Sept 17 that his client is a victim of fraud and had no knowledge that the banknotes were counterfeit.
According to the lawyer, Steven said the Singapore-dollar notes were given to him as payment for a shophouse he was selling in South Tangerang, a satellite town to Jakarta.
South Tangerang police chief, Superintendant (Supt) Boy Jumalolo, told ST that they held a meeting via Zoom on Sept 14 with representatives of the Singapore Police Force (SPF), including the SPF attache in Jakarta.
The meeting was conducted at the Indonesian National Police’s International Relations Division.
“At that meeting, we asked the SPF to issue a letter stating that the 34 notes from 1973 in the $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’,” said Supt Boy.
He added that Indonesian investigators are currently summoning witnesses.
A spokesman for SPF confirmed a report was lodged and said investigations are ongoing.
Yosia said his client had received the notes from a man named Anthony, who was introduced by one of Steven’s friends, identified only as Rangga.
At a meeting on June 8 at a cafe in Jakarta, Anthony gave him a single $10,000 note, claiming he wanted to exchange the note because it was old.
Yosia said Rangga reassured Steven, saying the note was checked at an OCBC branch in Indonesia and declared genuine.
Steven flew to Singapore the next day, where a money changer declined to accept the note because it was too large an amount.
Yosia said his client visited a bank but was told he had to open an account to change the note to smaller denominations, but he could not do this.
During a visit to Resorts World Sentosa, Yosia was introduced to a VIP host who suggested he change the note at the casino. The note was then allegedly verified and exchanged for casino chips.
Anthony met up with Steven again on June 11, after the businessman returned to Jakarta, and handed him 33 $10,000 notes to be changed to smaller denominations in Singapore.
He claimed the money was an inheritance from his parents.
According to Yosia, Anthony indicated that he wanted to buy Steven’s shophouse, which the businessman was offering to sell at 4.5 billion rupiah (S$323,500).
Anthony said he would pay him when the businessman returned to Jakarta with the Singapore currency in smaller denominations.
Yosia said his client then travelled to Singapore on June 12 and deposited 27 of the counterfeit $10,000 notes into his account at the casino. Six other notes remained at his home in Indonesia.
South Tangerang police confirmed this account in a statement on July 3.
Yosia said that when Anthony asked for the $10,000 notes in small denominations, Steven told him they should travel to Singapore together to collect the money.
The lawyer added: “Anthony declined, saying he didn’t have a passport and that he had business to attend to in Indonesia.”
On June 22, Steven used six of the counterfeit $10,000 notes kept in Jakarta as payment towards a house in Pamulang, Banteng province, which the businessman bought in May 2025.
But the seller’s daughter had difficulty changing the notes with a money changer in Jakarta.
On June 26, Steven flew to Singapore with his wife, their children and the seller’s daughter, with the intention of paying for the house.
Steven told the seller that the $10,000 notes could be changed to small denominations only in Singapore at the casino.
When the seller’s daughter realised she could not bring into Indonesia more than $6,000, she told Steven to pay by bank transfer instead.
“That afternoon, after Steven took part in a baccarat tournament at (RWS), he was stopped by casino security and police,” said Yosia.
Steven was told that the serial numbers on some of the six notes matched some of the 28 notes he had exchanged on his two earlier trips.
Yosia said Steven was questioned at Police Cantonment Complex, where his client was told he was being investigated for bringing in a large sum of cash without declaring it, circulating counterfeit currency and using counterfeit currency.
The lawyer said Steven surrendered his passport and mobile phone, and was told he would have to remain in Singapore for between three and six months for police to complete their investigations.
The lawyer added: “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.”
Discontinued note
The $10,000 banknote was first issued in 1973 and discontinued in 2014. In 2021, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) stopped issuing the $1,000 note as well.
In a statement in 2020, MAS said the discontinuation of the $1,000 and $10,000 notes was a pre-emptive move to mitigate the money laundering and terrorism financing risks associated with large denomination notes.
It noted that discontinuing a high denomination note has also been the practice in other jurisdictions.
Over the years, a number of individuals have been hauled to court over the use of counterfeit $10,000 and $1,000 banknotes in Singapore.
In February, an Indonesian man who received a counterfeit $10,000 from his girlfriend in Singapore was caught after he tried to deposit it in his unsuspecting uncle’s bank account.
Aurick Kenji Almira Valeryan, 22, was sentenced to seven months’ jail.
A year earlier, a 36-year-old Indonesian man was charged after he tried to deposit a counterfeit $10,000 banknote at the DBS South Bridge branch at Hong Lim Complex.
Those convicted of using forged or counterfeit banknotes in Singapore may be jailed for up to 20 years.
