Police investigate gallery for realistic art reported to be counterfeit currency

Police were sent on a wild goose chase on Friday afternoon after someone reported that Touch Gallery in Central was displaying counterfeit banknotes. 

According to a post by the gallery, police received a report at around 5 pm on Friday (Aug 4) that an art exhibition at 10 Hollywood Road was displaying counterfeit currency for sale. 

Upon investigation, the officers discovered that the "counterfeit currency" was just an artwork, part of an ongoing exhibition. 

The art piece in question is part of a series of realistic artworks inspired by Hong Kong banknotes, created by Hong Kong artist Grace Mak Chung Yan for True to Form: The Power of Depicting Reality. 

According to the law, anyone convicted of producing, possessing, or using counterfeit banknotes could be sentenced to a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.