Mozambique: Three more terrorist attacks in Mocímboa da Praia - AIM report
By Hermenegildo Sócrates (O Páis)
Two brothers have been arrested in Inhambane on suspicion of forging foreign currency. A third member of the trio is on the run, and the brothers are denying the charges against them.
In issue is the supposed falsification of the South African currency, the rand, and possession of 101 200-rand notes, equivalent to just over 100,000 meticais.
The older brother denies being a forger and claims to have been ensnared by his friend.
“I met my friend in South Africa where I work and he approached me about buying a mini-bus, and for that he needed to come to Mozambique to exchange the South African currency for Mozambican currency. When he arrived here, he told me to go and find out the exchange procedure in the bank. The bank said to make the sale they would charge 5 percent of the value, so he found himself losing money and said he preferred to exchange the money without using the bank. So he asked another friend to exchange the amount in Inharrime. He got caught and said that I was the supplier of the rands. Then I was detained.”
He went on to mention he did not know that the money his friend brought was false.
“What made me believe him was that he had already exchanged two 200-rand notes in Junta Maputo, the money for which we paid to get from Maputo to Inhambane, but he did not know anything at all”, he distanced himself.
The younger brother also denied belonging to the supposed gang, and blamed his older brother.
“I only collaborated with the police to indicate where the money was stored, but about the provenance of the money, only my brother can say, since his friend was the one who brought it here,” he said.
He also said that he was a student on an English course, and that he was not with his older brother or his brother’s friend.
Faced with this situation, police warn communities to use only official currency exchange channels.
“They tricked people there in the district. After we were informed, we neutralized the two brothers, who are confessing and cooperating. We hope to have a result on the fugitive and the alleged manufacturers soon. Meanwhile, we appeal to people to exchange currency only in banks and official exchange bureaux, and not with strangers about whom they know neither their provenance nor their suitability,” Juma Aly of PRM Provincial Command in Inhambane advised.
This is the first case involving counterfeit currency in Inhambane this year. Last year, there were two, one in Vilanculos and the other in Maxixe, both involving counterfeit meticais in amounts similar to that involved here.
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