Thursday, February 13, 2025

Police arrest suspects in alleged counterfeit bank notes

Some suspects who are linked to fake pula notes, which have been circulating in the country.

Bank of Botswana officials have been warning the public about fake P100 and P200 notes that have been recently in circulation in the country.

Bank of Botswana Head of Communications, Andrew Sesinyi, said although generally counterfeit activities are associated with international criminal syndicates, most of the culprits arrested and who are likely to appear before court are citizens of Botswana.

Sesinyi could not divulge how many Batswana have been prosecuted, saying that the matter is still under investigations. He said that they have strategized their security to avoid a repeat of what happening in the past.

“The Bank’s surveillance and detection system has so far prevented real or significant circulation of counterfeit currency,” he said. “The detection system has prevented actual purchase or significant exchanges of counterfeit banknotes on a scale that could warrant concern for the economy.”

Sesinyi also said that counterfeit currency has had no effect on the value or confidence placed in the Pula currency and that the number of reported cases of counterfeit banknotes is less than 0.01 per genuine 100 thousand circulating banknotes.

“There has been no significant effect by counterfeit money on the country’s economy as the public is generally warned as early as possible.”

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