
Elementary school boy produces counterfeit 1,000-yen notes
KOTOHIRA, Kagawa -- Police are set to report an elementary school boy to a child guidance center for producing counterfeit 1,000-yen notes and using one of them, police said.
The 12-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld under the Juvenile Law, admitted to the allegations. "I wanted to see if the fake bills would be accepted," he was quoted as telling investigators.
He used a color copying machine at his home in Kotohira to make 11 copies of both sides of a 1,000-yen note, then pasted both sides together to forge eleven 1,000-yen bills.
He handed one of them to the 70-year-old owner of a nearby shop to buy a pack of gum and juice and received 850 yen in change, local police allege.
He gave some of the remaining 10 fake bills to classmates and threw away the reminder. The incident came to light when a teacher at his school found one of them on the school premises.