Five men believed to be members of a criminal gang engaged in printing fake currency were arrested yesterday and close to Sh20 billion in fake money recovered.
The five were intercepted by Flying Squad officers outside Nairobi’s Barclays Bank, Queensway branch.
The suspects are said to have been headed to the bank where they planned to deposit the money in a personal safe.
Police said the recovered money was in fake US dollars.
Barclays bank head of corporate Affairs Anne Nderi said the bank did not know what customers keep in their personal safe boxes.
She told a press briefing that as much as banks did not know what their customers keep in their safe boxes, the fake cash contravened the bank’s regulations.
Flying Squad officers acting on intelligence reports trailed the suspects since Monday evening. Yesterday noon, the detectives ambushed them soon after they alighted from their vehicles outside the bank.
Police were yet to reveal the identities of the arrested men by last evening. Flying Squad chief Musa Yego who led the operation said they were in the process of counting the money by last evening but gave the estimate of Sh20 billion.
The arrest and recovery of the cash comes weeks after detectives found another ShSh32.6 billion fake currencies and 70kg fake gold in Ruiru on February 28.
Police officers raided a house in Kwihota area where they arrested two suspects.
Ruiru police boss James Ng’etich said the cash was stashed in iron boxes. The suspects were identified as Joseph Munyao and Nancy Muthoni.
Police have launched investigations to unravel the web of racketeers involved in the fake currency business and money laundering.
