Cape Town – A 41-year-old suspect is due to appear in the Knysna Magistrate's Court today after being found in possession of a bag containing counterfeit US$50 notes estimated at R6 000.
According to Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani, the arrest followed an operation involving officials from the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crimes team, assisted by members of the Knysna Visible Policing.
The suspect was arrested thanks to a tip-off after an ’’intelligence driven information’’ led the officials to a business district in Knysna.
’’A bank official was contacted for verification and the notes were confirmed to be counterfeit. The suspect was charged in terms of the Prevention of Counterfeiting of Currency Act,’’ Hani said.
Last year, a 28-year-old Johannesburg woman, Temwa Lisa Masoka, was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of peddling counterfeit money in Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
The operation entailed the selling and distribution of fake South African and other foreign currencies to a prospective buyer. The currencies, ’’which were good enough to beat the counterfeit pen’’, according to SAPS, were meant to scam tourists.
IOL