adminVictoria Falls Reporter
POLICE have bust a three-man fake note syndicate suspected to be part of a gang that has been using EcoCash to circulate counterfeit money in the country.
Police suspect fake $100 notes are made in Harare and rolled out countrywide by a suspected syndicate.
The trio, Nomore Nyoni, 36, from Zvishavane, Pardon Nyoni, 28, and Wellington Marinoha, 44, both from Mkoba in Gweru, were arrested on Wednesday in Hwange after a botched attempt to rob unsuspecting businesspeople.
According to reports made to the police, the suspects would target EcoCash shops where they would deposit the counterfeit money and go on to withdraw it from a different agent. The suspected fake money launderers allegedly committed crimes in Binga before moving to Victoria Falls where they left in a huff on Tuesday after alert victims notified the police.
They were eventually arrested in Hwange trying to commit similar crimes.
The Officer Commanding Victoria Falls District, Chief Superintendent Jairos Chiwona, confirmed receiving reports about the suspected crime and the arrest of Nyoni, Marinoha and Pardon.
The three are being held in Hwange.
“Yes I can confirm that there were some criminals moving around with fake money. They’ve since been arrested,” he said, adding that investigations were still underway.
The fraudsters were cornered by detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at TM Supermarket in the mining town when they attempted to use the same modus operandi on an EcoCash agent. Unbeknown to them, police had put feelers on the ground. This was after the suspected criminals escaped mob justice in Mkhosana suburb in Victoria Falls on Tuesday when an alert agent raised alarm after she almost fell victim to the scam. The suspects allegedly also approached another EcoCash agent near the Railway Station in the resort town pretending to be clients who wanted to deposit money into an account.
“I cannot give details but some men approached a colleague intending to deposit $240. One of them handed over $300 and was given $60 change. The agent later discovered that the $300 was fake but it was too late as the men had gone,” said an agent who preferred to remain anonymous.
A police source said at another EcoCash shop, the suspects left in a huff after the agent objected to them entering details onto a ledger on their own as it was the agent’s duty to do so. The agent had already done the transaction and the suspected criminals fled when she questioned why they wanted to write on their own, the source said.
An unidentified woman reportedly got the shock of her life at an Econet shop in Victoria Falls where she had gone to deposit money into her EcoCash account when she was told that all her notes were counterfeit.Detectives were called in and it was later established that she was a victim of the syndicate. The total prejudice has not been ascertained as investigations are underway, police said.
Online Reporter