Fake-banknote fraudster skewered

A counterfeit-note fraudster attempting to use a fake HK$500 banknote in Mongkok was caught red-handed yesterday.

A 53-second video widely circulated online shows a man in his 40s and dressed in a black hoodie entering a pharmacy on Nelson Street shortly before 11am.

He picked up some satay fish skewers and approached the counter to make a payment with the fake HK$500 note.

The staff member scrutinized the note carefully, rubbing it and viewing it under a light, which exposed it as a counterfeit.

The employee confronted the man, who insisted that the note had been given to him by a family member and, when pressed further, he defensively inquired if there was any problem.

Startled by the man's response, the staff member struck him with the skewers.

The clip ended after the man repeatedly asked the employee to return the banknote to him, which prompted the employee to leave his counter and drive the man out of the store.