OVER R46 000 in counterfeit money was seized yesterday by the Alexandra Crime Prevention Unit after a tip-off led them to the doorstep of the manufacturer.
Pietermaritzburg SAPS spokesperson Constable Mthoko Ngobese said the police received a phone call yesterday morning from a shop owner in Slangspruit who said a man had attempted to buy things from her store using the fake money.
“She said the man had come in to the shop on Saturday and had attempted to buy from her using fake R200 and R100 notes.
“He came back to the store on Sunday [yesterday] and tried to buy from her with a fake R100 note. She called the police who found the man with a counterfeit R100 note in his possession and arrested him.”
Ngobese said the man was brought in for questioning and revealed to police that he had been given the money by a man living in Bhafa, in the Alexandra Road policing precinct.
“The team went to the house in Bhafa and found a man who admitted to manufacturing the fake money.
“He showed the notes to the police and upon further searching of the house, the team found the machine used to manufacture the notes, ink and hundreds of blank A4 pages that were going to be used to print more counterfeit money.”
Ngobese said the notes came in R200, R100 and R20, with a total of R46 420.
The notes, which were printed on to A4 pieces of paper, had other notes with a different monetary value printed on to the reverse sides, making some of the notes unusable.
Three men have been arrested and will appear in court today on charges of possession and manufacturing of counterfeit money and theft under false pretences.
