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Woman jailed for using counterfeit foreign currency

By Rana Husseini - Jun 10,2021 - Last updated at Jun 10,2021

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a December State Security Court (SSC) ruling sentencing a woman to 12 months in prison after convicting her of using counterfeit foreign currency to buy sheep in Amman in March 2020.

The SSC declared the defendant guilty of possessing and dealing with counterfeit local currency on March 2, and handed her a three-year prison term and ordered her to pay JD750 in fines.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to one year in prison to give her “a second chance in life”.

Court documents said the defendant, and a male defendant who did not appeal his verdict, were in possession of fake currency worth JD1,000 and decided to use them in the market.

“The two decided to buy sheep with the counterfeit money and paid the owner 12 fake notes of JD50,” according to court transcripts.

The sheep owner discovered that the cash paid to him was fake after the couple had left with the animals, the court maintained.

The sheep owner alerted the authorities, and they first arrested the female defendant, the court maintained.

Upon searching her purse and home, investigators found an additional eight JD50 fake notes, the court added.

Investigators raided a deserted house belonging to the defendants and found some equipment that was used in printing the fake money, the court maintained. 

“The fake money could pass as real for people, but not when inspected by banks or currency exchange shops,” the court verdict stated.

The defence lawyer contested the court ruling arguing that “investigators failed to provide solid evidence to implicate their client”.

The defence also argued that the defendant had no knowledge that she was in possession of counterfeit money.

“My client trusted the defendant who gave her the money and had no clue that it was fake,” the defence lawyer argued.

However, the higher court ruled that the SSC had followed the proper proceedings when issuing the sentence and the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Court of Cassation judges comprised Mohammad Ibrahim, Ahmad Qatawneh, Hammad Ghzawi, Nayef Samarat and Saeed Mugheid. 

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