Rwanda National Police

A man identified as Josue Harindintwari is currently under custody at Busoro Police Station, Nyanza District after he was arrested in possession with counterfeit money.

The suspect was arrested on March 11 following a tip off from an employee of Umurenge SACCO of Busoro, after she noticed that he had been given her fake money to deposit to his account.

The suspect had 14 notes of Rwf5000 and he tried to con the attendant. But she noticed that they were fake and stealthily alerted Police. Our officers arrived in a little while and found the man still around and immediately arrested him,” the District Police Commander of Nyanza, Senior Superintendent of Police Francis Muheto said.

“He tried to claim ignorance, saying that he had not known that the money was counterfeit, but that is something he will have to tell the courts. We cannot tolerate those who try to distribute money, and the business community must beware of such criminals.”

He commended the brave actions of the SACCO employee and reminded the general public to work with Police through community policing, by providing timely information that can lead to the arrest of suspects or the prevention of criminal activities.

Counterfeit or forged money is not considered a major problem in Rwanda, but one cannot ignore the fact that there are forged currency notes in circulation, in various denominations, and can haunt the economy if not checked collectively.

Articles 601 to 602 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.