A man from Switzerland has reportedly been convicted after it was discovered he spent nearly $14,000 on prostitutes using fake money he printed himself at home. The 50-year-old man is said to have been sentenced at a Basel court to three years behind bars for forgery, which took place between July and October 2019, the Daily Mail reports.
- He was finally caught out by a bank. The man, who was unnamed, was discovered when one of the prostitutes he used tried to take the money to the bank to deposit. The 39-year-old woman used an ATM for the deposit, but the machine wouldn’t accept the notes, so she reported them to police. It’s believed she mistakenly accepted the forged notes without realizing they weren’t real.
- The cash wasn’t even particularly convincing. In fact, the forged cash was so bad that “a blind man could tell it wasn’t real,” according to the Basel County Court president. None of the notes contained any security features and in some instances, they were printed the wrong way around altogether. One can only assume the sex worker who accepted the money was unable to see the notes very well in the dark, which is what she told The Local.
- He was rather unabashed with his crime. The man is said to have spent $2,500 with one woman on the first occasion and more than $11,000 to a second woman the following time. His defense in this instance is that the first woman accepted the money even though it was clearly fake. He also accused the second woman of having stolen a large sum of money from him, though he offered no proof of this claim. When authorities visited his home, they found an inkjet printer along with more of the fake money.
- Yes, prostitution is legal in Switzerland. Not only that, but it’s regulated, so no laws were broken by the women in this case. There are many licensed brothels across the country, including several in Zurich.
- Now, the man will be spending time in prison. He was given a conditional sentence after being convicted of fraud, counterfeiting, and circulation of counterfeit money.
