Fake money syndicate should be nabbed

born baby. He is carrying two R100 notes. Absent mindedly, he picks some baby wear and goes to the teller machine and that is when his day goes sour. The sales lady who identified herself as S Ncube tells Jabu that one of the hard earned R100 is fake. The fake money is not returned to him and without further ado the police were called into the equation. Jabu is furious that he has lost his hard earned money. Power Sales personnel is angry and suspects that Jabu was trying to swindle the shop in broad day light, but that was not the case. Jabu is escorted to Central Police Station by Power Sales personnel. What happens behind those bars is left only to Jabu and the police to know.
The question becomes: Since Jabu received the money through the natural flow from one person to the other should he pay the price of counterfeiting? He could be charged with fraud and be incarcerated for that!
Fake notes are in circulation and some people have been recipients of such. This happens through everyday money transactions from one person to the other.
Innocent people have to go under tough question and answer session under police custody after having been caught with fake money. There should be a money printing syndicate somewhere that must be nabbed. Not everyone caught with fake notes is guilty.
The Power Sales saleslady just took Jabu as though he was the manufacturer of the notes, not knowing that he had just been handed by another family friend who he had done business with. Probing further from Jabu, he had to tell this reporter that a family friend who had given him the money was into the commuter omnibus business. He owned a Toyota Coaster that plies the city route. As Jabu related, he was kept in custody until that family friend came to his rescue.
All people should be on the lookout for fake notes. As we are heading towards Christmas, business is getting brisk and fast transactions could cause many people or businesses falling into this ditch of fake money. Anyone can fall into this trap and they could find themselves holding on to a wad of fake cash.
Some of the people that could be part of this syndicate are the money changers or the so-called osipatheleni. These people are working illegitimately in the streets. These people are always fleeing from the police and as one tries to change money with them they are seemingly in a hurry to do business with you before the law pounces.
It’s high time people shunned using the streets to do money exchanges. In our country most people have been used to the wrong notion of doing money exchange in the streets with osiphatheleni. The years of lack has taught most people to live as though things are still abnormal. These days there are banks where one could have their money changed to other currencies.
The Wikipedia encyclopedia online says: “Counterfeiting is as old as money itself. Coinage of money began in the Greek city of Lydia around 600 BC. Before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver.
A common practice was to “shave” the edges of a coin. This was known as “clipping”. While not itself counterfeiting, the exponents were able to use these precious metal shavings to create counterfeits”
Money counterfeiting affects all of us either directly or in- directly. The Wikipedia encyclopedia further notes the effects of counterfeiting as:
l Reduction in the value of real money
l Increase in prices (inflation) more money getting circulated in the economy – an unauthorised artificial increase in the money supply.
l Decrease in the acceptability (satisfactoriness) of money – payees may demand electronic transfers of real money or payment in another currency (or even payment in a precious metal such as gold)
l Companies are not reimbursed for counterfeits. This forces them to increase prices of commodities”
Money is always and has been a central need for humanity at the same time the greatest cause of problems as some people have gone to the extent of doing unorthodox means to get it. The Bible has also pointed out that the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people have been killed only to get money. The core issue is: who makes fake money? This fake money making syndicate should be rounded up!
Jonah Nyoni can be contacted on:
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