Counterfeit money dealer survives lynching in Zombo

Irate Community of Paidha Town Council in Zombo District have beaten to a pulp and Paraded a man they caught with a counterfeit note of Ugx  50 thousand shillings Along Nebbi Road.

He was suspected to have moved to every nook and cranny of the town to conduct his ”  dirty deals ” of buying items majorly from shopkeepers at night hours.

According to the Bank Of Uganda, The fake notes are copies made by colour scanners which can be recognized by silver strips taken from the lower denominations and glued to the fake notes 

Nerry Ocakacon, a shopkeeper at Nebbi Road in Paidha town council said the man came and wanted to buy a bar of Soap with a note of 50 k and after realizing that it was fake,  he alerted other shop keepers thus his arrest.

Ocakacon added that “last week,  I was duped with a fake note of 50 k and I realized later when doing my accountability of the day”

He called upon the Police to seriously launch an inquest into the case of counterfeit money that has become more common in the border town of  Paidha In Zombo.

The suspect whose name was withheld for security reasons was nearly lynched by a ticked-off mob, armed with all sorts of rudimentary tools.

 Asumani Buoy,  an elder in Mvule cell Paidha Town Council said “People were almost killing the young man, fortunately enough, we pleaded on his behalf and they abandoned him. We later took him to the police”.

Berocan Batista, A kiosk Operator at Alengukuma cell central ward Paidha town council was dupped with a fake note yesterday evening.

“This counterfeit note is moving around like wildfire, they came and bought two bottles of soda with a note of 5k, I had so many customers I couldn’t examine the fake cash, after they left, I discovered that they duped me,” Berocan told the Whisper Eye News.

According to locals, the counterfeit notes of 2000, 5000, 20,000 and 50,000 Sh have become common and mostly used by scammers in the evening hours when sellers are busy with many buyers.

Locals say many are targeting young people who operate shops.

Police are yet to release a statement about the incident.

Recently, a woman was paraded to police by vendors of Paidha central market, when she reportedly duped more than 3 people with counterfeit note of Uganda shillings of One Hundred Thousand ( 100,000).

Counterfeits are imitations of legal tender. It’s a criminal offence in Uganda to forge national currency.