Zimbabwe Republic Police on Thursday arrested a gang that was allegedly manufacturing counterfeit money in Bulawayo, the second-largest city in Zimbabwe.
Cite reports that the raid at a house in Northend suburb came after an 18-year-old woman identified as Chantelle Sibalwa was arrested after trying to use a fake US$1000 to buy a takeaway meal at a Chicken Inn outlet along Fort Street.
Sibalwa was taken to the police station and later to her place of residence where counterfeit money and equipment believed to be used in the manufacturing process was found at the place.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
We confirm that we investigated a case where fake money was used, some arrests were made including the recovery of the computer that was used to print the fake money.
An internal police memo notes that Sibalwa produced from under her mattress, a bunch of fake notes in the following denominations; 12 × US$100-00, 4 × US$50-00, 11 × US$10-00, 13 × US$5-00 and 17 × R100-00. The total amount of fake notes recovered was US$2265-00 and R1 700-00.
It also notes that police recovered an HP Diskjet printer Serial number CN442175TZ, bond paper, rulers and razor blades which are believed to be the equipment for manufacturing fake notes.
Chantelle implicated her boyfriend’s young brother, Onesmus Zimunya, who was also arrested after he was found with a fake US$10 in his pockets.
Inspector Ncube urged members of the public to be wary of illegal foreign currency dealings as counterfeit money could have found its way through those channels.
More: Cite