Traders count losses after fake notes circulate in Embu town

EMBU, KENYA: Traders and residents in Embu town are counting losses after losing money to a syndicate dealing in fake notes.

The criminals have been dealing in fake Sh1000 and Sh500 notes.

On Friday, two women and a man deposited Sh50,000 fake notes to an MPESA outlet only to escape lynching by an angry mob after being discovered.

One woman was stripped naked and beaten while her male colleague was given a dog’s beating by a mob before police rescued them. Their accomplice escaped.

Eyewitness say the three drove to the MPESA along Embu-Kiritiri road and the woman presented the fake Sh1,000 notes to the attendant.

The next customer was a man who withdrew Sh1000 from his account and on being given the money discovered it was fake and informed the attendant who realised the entire amount was fake.

They walked outside to trace the woman and found her as she entered the escape vehicle. They raised alarm and a crowd cornered them and ordered them out of the vehicle.

A day before the incidence, a woman who managed to escape sent children to a butchery and two different shops to get her change. The operators did not discover the money was fake until later when the woman had vanished.

“The money appeared genuine unless one carefully scrutinised the various safety features. We fell into the trap. I posted the incident on my social media accounts to warn people (on Thursday evening),” said a butcher who did not want to be named.

A week earlier, an elderly man who withdraw Sh9,000 from an ATM in a commercial bank in the town’s centre was duped to exchange it for fake notes.

When he left the bank, the men who were in a car and seemed to have been following him all along, stopped him near Oil Libya where a man seated on the passenger’s side claimed he was an elected MCA and was rewarding people for electing him.

He reportedly gave the old man Sh500 and even invited him for a meal at a hotel in Kubukubu area.

Before they reached, the cons said they had Sh500 notes that they wanted to exchange to Sh1000 for ease of dishing out to people who elected them. The victim obliged and exchanged his genuine money to 18 fakes notes of Sh500. The cons then told him to have a meal as they met more of their supporters and would come later to pay.

The old man ate and after waiting them for a while decided to pay only to be told by the cashier the notes he had were fake. Efforts to trace the cons were futile.

Embu West Director of Criminal Investigation Officer George Etyang said the two suspects were arrested on Friday and were taken to hospital for treatment for injuries sustained from mob injustice and would then be arraigned in court.

He said police hunting for the masterminds of the fake money syndicate and called on the public to volunteer information to assist in their arrest.

He urged the public to exercise caution and thoroughly scrutinise notes while engaging in transactions.