Two foreigners have been found guilty of being in possession of Sh110 billion fake notes.
Mohammed Sani alias Dr Mustafa and Ousman Ibrahim Bako were convicted by the Chief Magistrates Court in Nairobi yesterday.
They will be sentenced tomorrow.
The two have been in custody for two-and-half years.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta, representing Bako, said the convict is remorseful and urged the court to exercise leniency.
Mr Ombeta said Bako has a wife who is jobless and a son who was very young when he (Bako) was arrested. The boy is now six years old.
He told Magistrate Francis Andayi that when the convict walked out of his house on January 14, 2016, when he was arrested, it was for the purpose of benefiting his family.
Ombeta told Magistrate Francis Andayi that Bako's wife working for Qatar Airlines but has since been fired.
“The convict is apologetic, remorseful and he is sorry and he only requests the court to release him because he is a changed man after staying in custody for over two years,” said Ombeta.
The lawyer added that if the convict is released, he will be a better man because he has been teaching French in prison.
Lawyer Steve Kimathi, also representing Bako, also pleaded for leniency during the sentencing on his client's behalf.
Mr Kimathi said Bako's landlord threw out his family due to lack of money to pay rent.
He added that his client's wife is only 27 years old and has been rendered to a beggar in Mukuru wa Kaiyaba slums.
“The accused is a first offender and has been a role model for other prisoners,” he said
Mustafa, who is the first accused, also said he was sorry for what happened and urged the court to be lenient when sentencing him.
Through his lawyers, Mustafa said he has been in custody for two and half years and the court should consider that period. He said he has two wives and children.
The prosecution said the accused are first offenders and the court should consider maximum punishment because of the nature of the offense.
Prosecutor Solomon Naulikha said there are victims of this particular conduct and will forever remain with the pain.
The two were charged in 2016 with being possession forgery papers on January 14 and 15, 2016 at Diamond Park II Estate in Nairobi.
The court heard that they had 6,931,000 pieces of paper they intended to make fake US dollar currency notes.
They were also charged with another count of possessing 739,200 papers intended to make fake Euro currency notes on similar dates.
They were accused that on the same dates and places they were found with two scanners, two bottles of iodine for producing figures and marks peculiar to those used in making US dollars and Euro currency notes.
