Counterfeit bank notes surface

THE Bank of Namibia says it has become aware of another case of counterfeiting, which was reported recently.

The counterfeit notes were discovered last week when two Namibians used some of the fake money to buy alcohol at a shebeen at Otjomuise, Windhoek.

Upon inspection of the bank notes, the shebeen owner noticed that they were not genuine and immediately notified the police, who apprehended the two suspects the following day when they returned to the same shebeen, the central bank said.

The suspects had already exchanged counterfeit notes with a face value of N$2 800 at several other shebeens, while one of the suspects was found in possession of fake notes valued at N$4 000.

The suspects appeared in the Katutura Magistrate’s Court, and were remanded in custody.

The law provides that a person convicted of an offence under the Prevention of the Counterfeiting of Currency Act must be fined not more than N$100 000, or sent to prison for a period not exceeding seven years, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

“The bank’s own analysis has revealed that the suspects made use of a normal printing machine to copy the bank notes, and ordinary scissors to cut the notes to size. As with similar cases before, the counterfeits were of poor quality as none of the security features present on genuine bank notes were successfully reproduced on the counterfeit notes,” the central bank said.

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