Man held with fake R40 000

2008-04-07 13:14

Maputo - Mozambican police have arrested a man found in possession of more than R40 000 in fake notes, state media reports.

He was arrested on the weekend, according to reports.

Joaquim Selemane, police spokesperson for Maputo province told the daily Noticias that the man was arrested after tip-offs.

He was found with R48 000, $100 and 300 Meticais (Mozambican currency) all in fake notes.

"The detention of this person followed police investigations after false notes of different currencies were found in different outlets in the capital," Selemane said.

He said man - who was still in police detention - said he had been given the money for safe-keeping by his friend, a South African national who had travelled to northern Mozambique to buy semi-precious stones.

Selemane said the use of the fake notes was promoting illegal trade in semi-precious stones in the country.

Since last year, a boom in sales and mining of precious and semi-precious stones was recorded in central Mozambique, after discoveries of large quantities of stones in Manica province near the Zimbabwean border.

Authorities estimated that more than 6 000 foreign nationals - some of them illegal immigrants - were reportedly mining and selling the stones in the province located more than 2 000km north of Maputo.

- SAPA