Money‚ money‚ money... Joburg cops arrest cash counterfeiter

Johannesburg metro police have arrested a man with a huge stash of fake money‚ a city official said on Thursday.

Michael Sun‚ MMC for Public Safety‚ said the foreign national was arrested on Wednesday by the metro’s K9 unit and found with around R300‚000 in fake bank notes. Counterfeit notes in other currencies were also found.

The bust happened after a routine stop-and-search operation on Heidelberg Road‚ where officers spotted a suspicious-looking white Peugeot. While inspecting the car‚ the officers discovered a plastic bag containing a large amount of money.

The officers accompanied the suspect to his house in Allenspark‚ where they discovered a counterfeiting operation.

“The suspect was immediately arrested‚ and the counterfeit bank notes consisting of R300 000; US Dollars; Nigerian Naira; and a mini printing press and equipment were seized. The suspect is being detained by the police and will face serious criminal charges of money laundering and possession of counterfeit notes‚” Sun said.

“This (is the) kind of criminal operation which hurts the economy of Johannesburg. Unsuspecting shops and small businesses would often lose out on making an honest living when fake money is used to pay them for their goods.”