Eighty-year-old Fay Henry, who sells charcoal in the Cross Roads market in Kingston, says she has fallen prey to fraudsters who gave her counterfeit money in exchange for her goods.

Henry told The STAR that she was unaware that the money was counterfeit until she made an attempt to purchase goods for resale.

“Mi seh a coal mi go buy fi resell and the man draw crowd pan me, and a seh the money weh mi a give him fake. Mi affi tell him seh a the man dem gimi,” she said.

Henry blames her predicament on the absence of electricity in the section of the market where she sells. According to her, the light has been disconnected because she owed rent.

“The market fee a $500 and me did owe a week in the back because nothing nah sell. Because she nuh get the $1,000 from me now she lock off the light. So me a sell inna the darkness now because me a try help myself,” she said.

MORE THAN 60 YEARS

Henry, who has been a vendor for more than 60 years, said that she has never before owed for her rent, but business is now slow and that is the reason why she was unable to pay.

“You can owe $500 and dem lock off the light? You want me suffer. How me a go pay you when the money dem weh me a get fake?” she questioned.

Henry, who sells charcoal and ground provisions, said that she should have known something was wrong based on how people gave her the money.

“Dem fold up the money and give me and through me inna darkness mi just tell them thanks and move on,” said Henry.

She told The STAR that six fake $1,000 bills were given to her as payment.