BANGKOK - Thai police have arrested a woman for allegedly possessing counterfeit Singapore and United States dollar banknotes totalling nearly 20 million baht (S$847,000) at a department store in the capital Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reported on Thursday (May 27).

The woman, identified by the economic crime police as only Ananya, 41, was caught when she was trying to sell a large sum of Singapore dollars to an unsuspecting customer whom she had arranged to meet at the store on Tuesday.

The customer is in the currency exchange business.

The suspect was found carrying a paper bag containing 74 fake banknotes in S$10,000 denominations, which were worth 17 million baht. She confessed to the crime and admitted that the fake money belonged to her.

The police found another 95 counterfeit US$100 bills worth about 296,000 baht in her car parked at the store.

She has been charged with possessing fake banknotes with intent to defraud, the Thai commander of Economic Crime Suppression Subdivision 5, Colonel Padol Jandon, was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying.

Col Jandon also said the woman had not been acting alone and was part of a syndicate that the police have started investigating.

Singapore stopped issuing $10,000 notes in 2014 to fight money laundering and terrorism financing. But those already in circulation will remain legal tender indefinitely.

High-value notes are popular with organised criminals because they are lighter and make carrying large amounts of cash easier.