A Buddhist monk was arrested this week on suspicion of using counterfeit money he made at work to pay a high school student for a date, police said.

Hiroaki Kanbe, 28, is suspected of giving fake ¥10,000 notes to the then 17-year-old girl on March 29 as the “fee” for a date at a hotel in Gifu, in a practice known as enjo kosai (compensated dating), which is often a euphemism for prostitution.

The fake bills are believed to have been made by Kanbe at the Buddhist temple in Ogaki where he worked, the police said, adding Kanbe and the girl got to know each other via the internet.

The girl realized the bills were fake when she tried to use one at a drug store in Nagoya.

She received at least two fake bills from Kanbe, while the police said they found three other fake ¥10,000 notes with the same serial number in Gifu and Aichi prefectures.