Doctor warns people to look out for counterfeit cash

A doctor has urged people to look out for counterfeit cash after he was arrested for trying to change a fake £50 note at a money exchange in Abu Dhabi.

The Brit, who was visiting the UAE, received the note from a bank in London, according to his statement to police.

He told 7DAYS that it was one of six £50 notes he withdrew from the bank before flying to Abu Dhabi with his wife and new baby to be with her family following the death of her father.

He went to exchange the money on his first day in the UAE. The teller noticed that one of the notes was of a different texture to the others and called police.

The doctor, who works as a tropical disease and HIV specialist at a hospital in London, said he spent that night, April 27, with 50 other prisoners in a cell at a police station in Khalifa in Abu Dhabi.

“It has been very stressful,” he said. After a night in custody he was released on bail but police have his passport so he hasn’t been able to return to his job in London, he added.

Prosecutors said yesterday his case could be transferred to the security section of the UAE Supreme Court. A decision is to be made in the next few days.

The doctor warned others to be extra careful when bringing currency into the country. “The police showed me one of my original notes and the fake one,” he said.

“It was definitely a different texture and a slightly different colour. I wouldn’t know unless I was told but others should check their money before exchanging it.”

The doctor is now considering legal action against the London bank, which did not reply to a request for comment from 7DAYS.

sean@7days.ae