Police arrest two linked to Sh750 million fake currency in Kilimani
Police are holding two men who were found in possession of fake currencies totaling Sh750 million.
Samuel Maina and Boniface Mungai were arrested on Tuesday evening in an apartment in Kilimani area, where they had kept the fake denominations in a metal box.
The money that police confiscated was in Kenyan, US and Euro bills.
“The fake money recovered was in US Dollars of 100 bills amounting to 6,820,000 US Dollars, fake Euros 100 bills totaling to 490,000 Euros and fake Kenya shillings note of 1000 denomination totaling Sh6.4 million,” police said in a statement.
Police said they also recovered chemicals and fake badges bearing names of UN, Della Rue and National Treasury and several safe boxes.
“We also recovered bags, machines, two bottles and a jerrycan containing unknown liquid, assorted documents, customs reflector jackets, stickers and stamps for various offices with their seals,” the statement added.
Police suspect the men were planning to con unsuspecting customers or banks.
Nairobi police boss Augustine Nthumbi said they have launched an investigation to establish if any of the fake currencies had circulated into the market.
“We warn anyone against handling such money. It is criminal and has a bad impact on the economy,” he added.
In 2019, detectives mounted several operations in Kilimani area where suspects, majority being foreigners, were arrested with fake currencies.
In May 2019, nine people, including seven foreign nationals from DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, were arrested and millions in fake US Dollars recovered.
A week later, seven more suspects with millions of fake US dollars were also nabbed.
Stephen Mark, Noah Amollo, Ian Otieno, Jotham Mugo, Joseph Majanga, Peter Otieno and Kevin Otieno were arrested after a sting operation following intelligence reports.
The arrests came days after a similar operation led the arrest of 14 suspects in a police operation over fake gold and counterfeit currency rackets in the city.
Eight of the suspects were arrested in Langata and millions of fake US Dollars and 100kg of fake gold found in a house at the junction of Mukoma and Kiboko roads.
In April of the same year, detectives recovered Sh1.2 billion in fake US dollars at the Barclays Bank Queensway branch in Nairobi.
The cash was found in a client’s safe deposit box by a team of officers from the DCI Flying Squad and the five suspects arrested and charged in court.
In October 2018, police recovered billions of fake foreign currencies inside an apartment located on Brookside drive in Westlands.