Rwanda National Police

Police in Rwamagana District arrested a man on Thursday after he attempted to deposit fake Euros amounting to £2500, in the bank.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Hamdun Twizeyimana said that Peter Habumugisha was at the time trying to deposit the fake notes at a local commercial bank branch in Kigabiro Sector.

“Police was called by the bank management after they detected that the Euro notes Habumugisha was trying to deposit were all counterfeit,” CIP Twizeyimana said.

“He had 43 currency notes in the denominations of £50, and all bearing the same serial number,” he added.

It most cases, the foreign currencies especially dollars and Euros seized bear the same serial numbers.

CIP Twizeyimana called for vigilance especially in financial institutions, forex bureaus and advised those who want to exchange money to go to recognized forex bureaus to avoid being defrauded in black markets.

The National Bank of Rwanda says that the threat of counterfeiting of Rwandan currency remains as low as 0.001% of currency in circulation.

However, if counterfeit money is not controlled it may lead to expansion of the underground illegal activities, which are not always part of the tax base.

According to the central bank, key security features to recognise a genuine Rwandan banknote include a 3mm security thread, a coat of arms of Rwanda that can be seen when a note is exposed to light. The Rwf2, 000 and Rwf5, 000 notes also bear anti-copy