Barely a few weeks after the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) unveiled new K5000 banknotes for public usage, Police at Nkhunga Police Station in Nkhotakota district have arrested a man for being found in possession of fake K5000 banknotes.
Central East Region Police Spokesperson Harry Namwaza, has confirmed the development while identifying the suspect as Yesaya Qoto, 23.
“He was arrested on Monday, March 28 2022 at Dwangwa Trading Centre when he was trying to transact the money into his Airtel Money wallet,” Namwaza said.
Namwaza said that police have seized 115 suspected Five Thousand Kwacha notes bearing one serial number AA7915614 amounting to K575, 000.
“At the time in material, the suspect went to an Airtel Money agent at Dwangwa Trading Centre where he wanted to transfer the alleged amount into his Airtel Money account”.
“The Airtel Money agent told the suspect that she had only K60, 000. The suspect gave the agent a go-ahead and produced the alleged banknotes which made the agent suspicious upon seeing the alleged banknotes. She later informed her friend and the matter was reported to Nkhunga Police Station who responded swiftly by deploying detectives who rushed to the place and arrested the suspect,” he said.
He said that police are investigating the matter to establish the source where the counterfeit banknotes were printed and how far the counterfeit banknotes have been distributed.
“The fake banknotes will be taken to Reserve Bank of Malawi for authentication by experts before the suspect is taken to court,” he said.
Meanwhile, police in the district are advising people to be careful when they are exchanging banknotes so they do not be duped.
Yesaya Qoto hails from Mwelekete village, Traditional Authority Mtwalo in Mzimba district.
