Youth facing up to 15 years prison for Runescape robbery

A 19 year old boy in the US faces charges of second-degree robbery and grand larceny over an alleged theft of 4.7 billion Runescape coins in which he pulled a BB gun after trying to pay with counterfeit currency.

Humza Bajwa, 19, of Massachusetts, had arranged to pay $3,300 for the 4.7 billion coins from Jonathan Dokler, who arranged for a friend, David Emani to conduct the deal. When the pair first met, Emani noticed that Bajwa had brought fake notes for the exchange and told Dokler to cancel the deal.

Dokler, in touch with the two by phone, wanted to continue the deal, but Emani persuaded him otherwise. Bajwa rearranged the meeting for the next evening.

"He was transferring money from one envelope to another envelope, and I got a glimpse of it and it looked fake," Emani told the New York Post. "I was on the phone with John, and I said, 'Don't do it. It looks fake.' "

When the pair met again the next night, Emani brought a single real $100 bill to disguise the rest of the counterfeit notes, confirming his suspicions. When he challenged Bajwa, he pulled a gun and put it to Emani's head.

"I whispered, 'Take it easy, man. No need for that gun,' " continues Emani. "I couldn't believe I was about to get shot over RuneScape! I was so scared I was about to die."

The gun turned out to be a fake, but it was enough to persuade Emani to ring Dokler and persuade him to complete the transaction. Bajwa is then said to have left, satisfied, leaving the fake notes and the real $100 bill.

CCTV footage lead the police to his door and he has now been arrested and consequently released on bail of $20,000.

Real money trading of Runescape currency is prohibited by UK-based owners Jagex, but is still an issue for the company.