Police in Tharaka Nithi county have warned of a syndicate involved in printing fake money, commonly known as ‘wash wash’.
On Saturday, a key suspect was cornered and arrested by police while in the final stages of printing Sh2 million fake notes. The suspect was also found with Sh50,000 in cash that he had apparently swindled out of unsuspecting members of the public.
Suspect Josphat Njeru Mwenda, from Materi village in Tunyai location Tharaka South subcounty, is being held at Chuka police station. He will be taken to court on Monday.
Meru South subcounty police commander David Ngondi said Mwenda was arrested in a Chuka town hotel after a tip-off from members of the public.
The fake money syndicate has been operating in Tharaka and Embu.
Ngondi cautioned residents to be wary of fake money dealers, saying several people have lost their hard-earned cash to fraudsters.
The police boss was speaking to journalists outside Chuka police station Saturday.
Five days earlier, police had arrested Lawrence Mugendi Kiragu, from Ikuu, Tharaka Nithi, as he tried to print millions of fake notes in Sh1,000 denomination for a friend he had allegedly met on Facebook in 2018.
In the same week, five other suspects claiming to be selling seeds that can cure cancer were arrested at Kanyakine market in Meru county.
The suspects, among them two Arabs, are being held at Chogoria police station. They will be arraigned in a Chuka court on Monday.
The four men and a woman were lured into a trap by a police informer from Chogoria in Maara subcounty, who was posing as a customer.
Maara subcounty police commander Mohamed Jarso said on Friday the suspects were arrested with several seeds that they were selling to the informer.
He said initial police investigations revealed that the fake seeds the suspects were selling at Sh5,000 each could easily be found inside the neighbouring Mount Kenya Forest.
Jarso said people who have fallen victim said the sellers approach unsuspecting members of the public and present themselves as business people dealing with the ‘cancer-curing seeds,’. They mostly target cancer patients or their relatives.
He spoke to journalists at Chogoria police station.
Police have also cautioned residents over extortionist children after a secondary school student recently faked a kidnapping to get money from his parents and relatives.
Tharaka Nithi county criminal investigation officer Betty Chepng’eno said parents and relatives of any child who claims to have been kidnapped should report such matters to the police for investigations.
She said concerted efforts by detectives from Marimanti, Nkubu, Tharaka Nithi county headquarters, and additional gadget handling experts from the regional office in Embu ‘rescued’ and took the student back to class.
Chepng’eno said detectives used the mobile money transfer app in the ‘victims’ mobile telephone to locate his whereabouts.
She said the student narrated how he faked his kidnap, saying he wanted to use the money to buy clothes.
The student is expected to undergo counselling and continue with his education.