A 33-year-old Indian businessman was this morning charged with the possession of €116,200 worth of counterfeit euro in what a police inspector described as the largest ever amount of fake cash seized.

Ravi Kumar, who imports leather goods to Malta, pleaded not guilty and told Magistrate Audrey Demicoli that he was not aware that the cash was fake. He was apprehended by police at the airport yesterday and the cash was found in his luggage.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla, prosecuting, objected to Mr Kumar being granted bail adding that this was the largest seizure of counterfeit money recorded so far. Police found 1,159 notes of €100 and 20 notes of €50.

Magistrate Demicoli denied the request for bail at this stage after hearing how Mr Kumar had no fixed address in Malta.

Earlier legal aid lawyer Noel Bartolo objected to being appointed legal aid to represent Mr Kumar since he had the money to appoint a lawyer. He noted that legal aid lawyers were there for those who had no financial means.

Mr Kumar declared on oath that he currently did not have money to pay a lawyer. The magistrate appointed Dr Bartolo to represent him for this one sitting and ordered that a copy of the minutes of the case be sent to the Justice Minister for direction in future when similar objections were raised by legal aid lawyers.

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