A Jewish man has been distressed by anti-Semitic slurs written on banknotes issued from a Sydney ATM.
The $50 notes that had been defaced with black permanent marker were collected by three different customers (six notes in total) at the North Bondi Suncorp ATM inside Ampol Foodary in the run-up to Christmas.
The notes were graffitied with the words “F*** Jews” and a swastika drawn on the forehead of indigenous leader David Unaipon, whose image appears on the note.
Photos of the shredded banknotes were shared online and, despite the accusation that the banknotes were “fake” and “staged”, their authenticity was later verified.
NSW Police were called to the Ampol Foodary on December 12 after the first batch of shredded notes were distributed and reported to employees.
The next day, a Jewish man named Ari received a marked note and informed the assistant. He said the worker assumed he was complaining about the condition of the bill and not the anti-Semitic content.
Ari was later visited by the police, who suggested he take the notes to Suncorp Bank, who could “trace them and sort them out a bit more”.
“They recognized that it’s completely unacceptable, but there wasn’t much more they could do,” he told 7News.
Three different customers were handed $50 notes vandalized with anti-Jewish graffiti in Sydney (pictured), including a swastika and the words “fucking Jews”.
Suncorp said the ATM was not maintained by them but by Armaguard, who said it was highly unlikely they would have sent the cash that way.
Police confirmed they are investigating three incidents in which “offensive handwritten words and images” were found on banknotes on December 12, 13 and 14.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, criticized the vandalism.
“Haters in our society are finding new ways to express their prejudices and hatred,” he said.
While the Reserve Bank can remove damaged notes from circulation and replace them with new currency, those who find them must hand over the cash to a bank branch.
In Australia it is a crime to damage the official currency.
Suncorp Bank said the ATM where the notes were found belongs to Armaguard.
‘Our cash processing machines are well maintained and regularly calibrated and tested. “Our high-speed sorting machines are the same ones used by central banks around the world to process and sort returned banknotes,” said Mr Caulfield.
“Therefore, the risk of our machines failing to identify a damaged banknote and recirculating it to the community is extremely low.
“The vast majority of damaged banknotes in circulation exist because they are recycled within the community and do not reach a cash center for processing and sorting.”