North Cork gardai have seized €6,700 of fake cash when a man in a car tried to flee from them as they questioned him.
The incident, involving so-called ‘movie money’ happened on Wednesday on Navigation Road in Mallow when gardai were speaking to two men in the car.
One of the men, aged in his 20s, refused to cooperate with Gardaí and attempted to run whilst being searched.
He was arrested under the public order act and detained at Mallow Garda Station and later released. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution.
An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners have previously highlighted that there has been a significant increase in the detection of novelty Euro notes.
These notes are often marked as “movie money” or “prop money” and bear a strong resemblance to genuine Euro notes, however they do not contain the security features.
Crime Prevention Officer Sgt John Kelly explained that businesses need to be aware of the problem and to put measures and training in place to deal with it.
“We would advise businesses and members of the public who deal in cash to be aware that such notes are in circulation and to take appropriate precautionary measures. Business owners should ensure staff members handling cash are alerted to watch out for these fraudulent notes.
“These notes should not be accepted as legal tender and any incidents of persons trying to pay with this ‘prop money’ should be reported to Gardaí immediately.
“The use of fraudulent currency when trying to purchase goods or services is an offence under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 and carries a potential prison sentence of 10 years.”
