{{Police in Ngoma district on April 21st apprehended a 41-year old man in Agatonde cell, Gatore sector in connection with currency counterfeit.}}
At the time of arrest, the suspect was found in possession of fake Rwandan francs in Rwf5000 denominations. He was apprehended by members of the public and handed him over to Police.
A number of individuals involved in forging and circulating monies have been arrested, majority prosecuted, based on the credible information provided by the public.
This is the spirit that is required of the general public, especially the business community, to always be vigilant and check the given currency notes thoroughly, and report people that are involved in these criminal acts, which have ill-impact on the economy.
It is an act that should be fought without fear or favour, jointly, because its consequences affect everyone.
Remember, individuals or the business community will be the first to be affected since they will not be reimbursed for the detected and confiscated fake currencies.
Though forged money is never considered a major problem in Rwanda, we cannot ignore the fact that there are forged currency notes in circulation, in various denominations, and can haunt the economy if not combated while still early.
Besides being illegal and a crime under the Rwandan laws, fake money has an ill-effect on society as it leads to a reduction in the value of real money.
It increases prices (inflation) due to more money getting circulated in the economy – an unauthorised artificial increase in the money supply; leads to decrease in the acceptability of paper money and cause losses to the business community.
Though financial institutions have installed hi-tech equipment to easily detect fake monies, the likely majority victims could be the local people dealing in small businesses in communities; those selling vegetables, owning small shops in villages, to mention but a few.
Articles 601 to 604 of the Rwandan penal code criminalize and punish those who falsify or alter coins and bills which are legal tender.
The articles also punish those, who knowingly circulates fake monies and those who acquires fake currencies unknowingly, but circulates them after discovering they are counterfeit.
It should, therefore, be a collective responsibility by everyone to report those individuals involved in falsifying and circulating currencies.
RNP
Leave a Reply