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A fake $ 5 bill used in a Hamilton bar after a cash drop in Auckland compared to a real bill.
A Hamilton business owner says fake money thrown at a crowd in Auckland was used to buy drinks at his bar.
Saturday’s event, hosted by The Safety Warehouse, promised “$ 100,000 in cash” of “real money,” but mostly used vouchers that looked like banknotes.
Few attendees reported seeing real money, and most received discount vouchers that looked like $ 5 bills.
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Participants surrounded the car of Safety Warehouse staff, demanding the promised real money.
That counterfeit money has since been used to buy drinks at the Hamilton Bar The Outback Inn, Lawrenson Group founder and CEO John Lawrenson said.
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$ 20 bills were used Saturday night and Lawrenson said that in a dark and busy nightclub, the bills looked like real bills and had been accepted by bar staff.
“In the middle of a day shift in a slow place, you might notice … but in a dark, noisy, busy nightclub, you’re working fast, I don’t think you notice.”
He said that the counterfeit money being used at his bar made no difference to the grand scheme of things as they were doing much better than he thought they would after closing.
Christel Yardley / Stuff
The money thrown at a crowd in Auckland made it to a bar in Hamilton and was used to buy drinks.
But some companies were not so lucky, and he said that if the notes were used there, it could be another story.
“The more I’ve thought about it and the more I see how similar those notes are to the real ones, this is a pretty cynical marketing tactic at a time when a lot of people aren’t in a good place mentally and it’s been a really, really year difficult “.
Lawrenson said he didn’t think people realized how much the second shutdown had affected people, especially in Auckland, and he thought the promotion was in bad taste.
“Apologize, accept that you did something cynical and in bad taste.”
Police are reviewing the event and conducting follow-up consultations with the organizers.
Safety Warehouse Managing Director Andrew Thorn, in an extensive media interview, testified that “real funds” were given away and that the event had been “unfairly characterized” as one with fake money.
“There was no intention to deprive, deceive or embarrass any person of any demographic or race,” Thorn said.
