Thousands of fake bank notes bearing the face of Lord Alan Sugar have been handed out along with £500 in real cash. The "Bank of Sugar" £55 notes were stuck on a hoarding, as well as 10 actual £50 bills, to promote the launch of The Apprentice star's autobiography. Passers-by were encouraged to pluck the money off the "cash point", which was put up in Golden Square near Regent Street, central London. Scattered among the fake cash were 25 special notes entitling the winner to prizes based on Lord Sugar's favourite pastimes.
The former Amstrad boss is a keen cyclist and offered a Pinarello FP1 British Cycling Replica 499 as one of the top rewards. Others included a flying lesson and an oyster dinner for two. Lord Sugar will be signing copies of What You See Is What You Get: My Autobiography at Waterstone's Piccadilly Tuesday. The book charts his rise from growing up on a Clapton council estate to becoming a multi-millionaire businessman. Lord Sugar was made a peer by the last government and appointed Gordon Brown's enterprise tsar.
Its an offence to print fake banknotes under section 12 of the 1928 currency and bank note act: "If any person prints or stamps, or by any means impresses, on any bank note any words, letters or figures, he shall, in respect of each offence, be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding a level 1 fine [£200 in today's money]."
0 comments:
Post a Comment