Economy

Police seize Sh153m fake dollars in city printing ring

dollar

The counterfeit notes were in denominations of $100. PHOTO | FILE

Police have broken a dollar counterfeiting ring in Nairobi’s Westlands suburb following the arrest of foreign nationals suspected to be behind the scam.

Officers from the Flying Squad apprehended the five following a raid on an apartment they were staying in, and found $1.5 million (Sh153 million) in counterfeit notes. The notes were in denominations of $100.

The five appeared before Resident Magistrate Joyce Gandani on Friday, where they denied the charges. Ms Gandani ordered that they be kept in custody until December 3 when their matter will be heard.

Police believe that Abdullaye and Abdullah Tamba, Suleiman Yahya Musa, Mahmat Tamba and Yahya Kangweri had planned to release the forged notes into the Kenyan market.

“It is alleged that on October 16, without lawful authority and in your knowledge, you had in your possession 15,000 counterfeit notes,” the charge sheet reads.

Ms Gandani also ordered that analysis be done on their passports, which show they are from the Central African Republic, to ascertain their true immigration status.

The sting operation followed a complaint by a Saudi Arabian businessman – Abdullah Hussain Hassan – who claimed one of the five owed him $4 million (Sh408 million) and that they had refused to pay the sum.

Ms Hassan’s lawyer Cliff Oduk requested police assistance in recovering the sum from one Abdullah Tamba and upon searching his Saddlewood Apartments house, police recovered the counterfeit notes.

Analysis on the nabbed cash was done last Thursday at the Nairobi police headquarters, where they were found to be forged.