A Cameroonian national has been charged with being in possession of fake Sh 283 million in dollar currency.
Timson Tiekam Babila was arrested on 13th January 2022 in Athi River, Machakos County together with two accomplices.
The court heard the accused knowingly had in his possession pieces of papers of 100 denominations equivalent to USD 2.5 intended to resemble and pass as US dollars currency notes.
The accused is alleged to have committed the offense on 12th January 2022 jointly with others not before court, without lawful authority.
Babila denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi.
He was granted a bond of Sh 10 million.
The accused was arrested alongside two other Cameroonian nationals; Ernest Abeng Ahuo and Ayong Ronald Aku by detectives from the DCI headquarters for allegedly falsely obtaining money from an Australian investor based in Kenya.
The trio was arrested at a hotel in Kilimani after the victim alerted sleuths.
According to the police, Babila, who is allegedly the mastermind behind the syndicate, lures unsuspecting businessmen with the promise of cleaning fake dollar notes and converting them into genuine cash.
It is alleged that the suspect first asks his victims for genuine money for the purchase of chemicals and other materials used to clean the fake notes, usually locked in steel boxes.
The police further indicated that the Australian investor had fronted Babila Sh 800,000 before he realized he was scammed.
