Traders count losses after fake currency hits town

Fake currency syndicate is said to be thriving in Embu County

A fake currency syndicate is said to be thriving in the county.

Several traders and residents have lost money to suspects believed to be part of the counterfeit money syndicate. The criminals deal in fake Sh500 and Sh1,000 notes.

On Friday, police rescued two women and a man, who had deposited Sh50,000 fake notes at an M-Pesa shop, from being lynched.

Two of the suspects were stripped naked and beaten, while the third one escaped.

Witnesses said the three drove to the mobile money shop along Embu-Kiritiri road where one of them presented several Sh1,000 fake notes.

Their mischief was exposed by the customer served after them, who realised the Sh1,000 note the agent had given him was fake. The attendant raised the alarm and the three were cornered.

A day earlier, a woman had sent children with a fake note to ask for change from a butchery and two shops. “We were duped," said the butcher.