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Counterfeit bank notes send man into courtby Matilda Kirenga A man identified as Charles Daga, aged 38 and resident of the Mererani area of Simanjiro district, has appeared in court charged of possessing counterfeit money valued at Tsh.175,000. Pressing the charges this week, public prosecutor, PC Mohammed Kitiye, stated that the accused was arrested on Thursday, the 1st of July this year, at the Arusha branch of Bank of Tanzania (BOT).. Presenting the case before the Resident Magistrate, Phares Mbuge, the prosecutor told the court that Daga was caught with five Tsh.10,000 bank notes and twenty five Tsh.5,000 bank notes, all found to have been fake. Four of the Tsh.10,000 bank notes bore the same serial number of AB 6445404 and the other one was with serial number AB 9646507 all valued at Tsh.50,000. The other Tsh.5,000 bank notes had different serial numbers, sixteen of which, bore number AA 9646501, eight had number AA 644504 and one had a serial number AA 9646507, all totalling up to 25 bank notes, valued at Tsh.125,000. The counterfeit bank notes were displayed before the court as the accused was being called upon to answer the charges. Daga, pleaded not guilty, explaining that, the money was not his, as he had been given the lot by his fellow businessman and therefore he wasn’t aware that the notes were fake. He told the court that both him and his friend were gemstone dealers working in Mererani. The accused has been taken back into custody for lack of sureties, awaiting the second mention of his case, set to come up on the 17th of July this year. Meanwhile, the Police in Arusha region have issued an alert that, fake bank notes could be circulating in town and people should be aware thus take precautions.
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