A male suspect is being held at Athi River police station over alleged possession of counterfeit money.
The suspect identified as Johnson Onyoni was arrested at his home in Karibu estate Athi River with US dollars notes believed to be counterfeit and assorted materials used to print notes.
Kenyan notes and dollars
1,000 notes in the denominations of 100 dollars, several tins of 400 grams of unknown liquid substance and 3,000 pieces of black imitation papers of 1,000 Kenya notes were recovered during the Thursday evening operation.
Athi River sub-county police commander Jos Mudavadi said police were acting on a tip-off from members of the public over suspicious activities that take place in the said home.
“I want to thank members of the public for giving crucial information in matters pertaining to security. We received information that informed us to raid the home which was reported to be printing Kenya shillings and dollars. We have recovered paraphernalia suspected to be used in printing fake currencies, ” Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi said they managed to arrest the suspect who is said to be the home owner.
“During the raid, we managed to arrest one suspect who is believed to be the mastermind of the money laundering business,” he said.
Money laundering
According to the police commander, they are pursuing more suspects believed to be engaged in money laundering activities.
“As security agencies, we will not allow rogue conmen to sabotage our economy by circulating fake currencies. The criminals mainly target M-Pesa shops leaving unsuspecting owners counting losses. We also urge individuals and businessmen transacting business involving bulky cash to be cautious to avert being conned using fake currency,” he added.
The police commander sent a stern warning to criminals engaged in money laundering saying they will face the wrath of the law.
The suspect will be arraigned in Mavoko Law Court tomorrow where detectives will be seeking to hold him for seven more days to complete investigations.
