A Bromley bartender caught a fake $50 note by trying to tear it when a customer handed it over to get change for the pokie machines.
Thirty-two-year-old Whiddon Phillip Thomas, who has no known address, had better luck at a petrol station and convenience store in Ashburton – the fake $50 note got him a $10 PaySafe card and two genuine $20 notes as change.
He was arrested in June and today pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to charges of using forged bank notes and two thefts.
Judge Dale Clarkson remanded him in custody for sentencing on September 12, and asked for a pre-sentence report to consider his suitability for a home detention term which would allow him to go to a drug rehabilitation centre. She also asked for a drug and alcohol assessment, and referred the case for restorative justice meetings with the victims.
Thomas admitted going into the New World supermarket in Memorial Avenue and walking out with a shopping basket containing meat packs worth $352.
On May 19, he went to the Glenbyre Tavern in Bromley. At 2.30pm, he presented two fake $50 notes at the bar, asking to have them changed into coins for the pokie machines.
“The bartender attempted to tear the notes as a test of their authenticity which revealed they were fake,” police prosecutor Nicola Stratton told the court.
At 11.40pm the next day, Thomas went to a petrol station and convenience store in Ashburton and handed the cashier a $50 note, which was accepted and the PaySafe card and change was handed over. The note was noticed as a forgery when the cashier cashed up later that day.
Police were called and reviewed security camera footage and identified Thomas.
Miss Stratton said: “Using Paysafe is an anonymous and unregulated method to trade and manage money and is a relatively new method used by the criminal fraternity to launder money.”
The police are asking for $50 reparations for the store.
In June, Thomas went to the Warehouse at Eastgate and stole shoes and ink cartridges worth $218.
When police spoke to Thomas he said he had earlier had issues with his mates giving him fake money, and he was not aware that the notes he used were fake.
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