NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 12 – Police in Nairobi said they had broken a major fake currency printing racket and arrested two suspects.
They also recovered fake dollars amounting to $3.5 million which is equivalent to Sh260 million during a raid in a residential house in Ruaka, in the outskirts of the city.
Gigiri Divisional Police Chief David Kerina said the fake-currency manufacturing racket is masterminded by men of Congolese descent who have been duping businessmen that they would multiply their fortunes.
“It is more of a money laundering thing and investigations have been launched,” Mr Kerina said.
“We are now holding the Congolese suspects who are assisting us with further investigations. They will definitely appear in court,” he added.
Mr Kerina said they were “alerted about the issue by a city businessman who had been approached to have some of his money multiplied.”
“We asked him to arrange a meeting with them on Wednesday evening and they came with a safe full of fake dollars, which they intended to give the businessman. That is how they were arrested but we are still looking for another suspect,” he told Capital News on telephone.
The raid was conducted by undercover officers attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Gigiri.
“These are dangerous people. We are appealing to the public not to fall victim to these conmen who have defrauded people of millions of shillings,” Mr Kerina said.
He confirmed that police were investigating numerous cases of other people who had reported having been conned under similar circumstances.
In most cases, the fake currency manufacturers approach individuals and dupe them to give them money which they would multiply in a matter of weeks or just days.
A senior CID officer at the Nairobi Central Police Station said they had documented up to 30 such cases since June this year.
“These are cases involving amounts ranging between Sh500,000 to Sh10 million or more,” the officer said.
“Some of the people conned in this fraud are people of higher status in society and even politicians. We fail to understand how they get into those dirty businesses,” the officer said.
In one instance, he said, a businessman was asked to give out Sh100 million for Sh500 million in return over a period of six months.
“He was paying the amount in installments and they made him appreciate the deal as genuine because they were able to pay him back within the first two installments and finally duped him to bring the remaining amount so that it can be multiplied at once. It was the last time he saw them,” the officer said.
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