N$11 900 counterfeit notes seized at coast

ERONGO police seized counterfeit banknotes with a face value of N$11 900 from a car boot in Swakopmund on Monday.

Three Namibian men were arrested and will appear in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court today on charges of fraud and being in possession of counterfeit banknotes.The notes were presented at a press conference at the Erongo police headquarters in Walvis Bay yesterday.According to Erongo Police Commissioner Samuel //Hoëbeb, one of the suspects tried to pay for a drink with a new N$100 note at a bar in Mondesa on Sunday. The bartender discovered that the note was not real and immediately notified the police, who arrested the man at the bar.The suspect told the police that he got the note from a friend, and the investigation led to a house in Mondesa where a second suspect was arrested. There it was revealed that the money was being stored at the house of another friend, so the police followed the trail to the home of a third suspect on Monday and discovered fake notes in the boot of a car there.The notes were confiscated and the three suspects are being held at the Mondesa Police Station.The counterfeit notes included 25 old-design N$200 notes, eight old-design N$100 notes, 60 new N$100 notes, two N$50s and one US$100.//Hoëbeb said the Bank of Namibia and Nampol’s Commercial Branch are helping with the investigation. It is unknown at the stage where the notes were made. Their poor quality suggests that they are simply colour photocopies.’This could probably be the largest counterfeit lump sum that has been seized in the Erongo Region and I have to commend the vigilance of the community in helping make this discovery,’ the Police Commissioner said.