A 25-year-old man charged with being in possession of fake notes has been remanded after he failed to pay a Sh30,000 bond.
James Odhiambo was remanded at Homa Bay Prison.
He was charged before Homa Bay principal magistrate Ruth Maloba on Thursday. The suspect denied the charge of being in possession of fake notes worth Sh3,000.
Odhiambo was in Homa Bay town when he allegedly went to deposit the money to his mobile phone at an M-Pesa shop.
The M-Pesa agent raised an alarm which attracted boda boda riders. The riders wanted to lynch the suspect but Arujo assistant chief Jacktone Olielo and police arrived in time and rescued him.
Police said they found Odhiambo with four different national ID cards bearing his photograph but with different names. The IDs also had different dates of birth.
Odhiambo, a hawker in the town, said he received the money after selling a blanket. He said he only realised the notes were fake after the M-Pesa agent rejected them.
“I had no intention to deposit fake cash. I didn’t know the notes were fake,” Odhiambo said.
Edited by peter obuya
