A man has been arrested in Kicukiro District in connection with manipulating and exploiting children to circulate counterfeit money in and around Kigali.

Police say Charles Mugunga, a resident of Gatenga Sector in Kicukiro District, was arrested on Saturday after one of the three boys he is believed to have recruited was arrested with fake bank notes.

The boy, aged 13 years, was trying to use mobile money services to deposit fake currency notes amounting to Rwf50,000.

Police Spokesperson for the Central Region, Modeste Mbabazi, said the boy was reported by the would be victim and arrested by a DASSO [District Administration Security Support Organisation] agent before handing him over to Police.

"Upon being searched, the boy was found to be in possession of fake currency worth Rwf50,000, all in 5,000 denominations that he was meant to give to a mobile money agent. After further investigations, we discovered that there is a mastermind, Mugunga, behind this act – so we were led to the his home in Gatenga Sector, Gakoki Cell, where we apprehended him,” Mbabazi said.

"At the suspect’s home, Police discovered other counterfeit notes, worth Rwf245,000, as well as tools and chemicals that he was using to manufacture this fake money. We also discovered that he had been exploiting three boys for quite some time and that he is not related to any of them.”

Mbabazi said using the underaged is a form of child abuse.

He urged the public to report such incidents as soon as possible in order to protect the economy against the consequences of counterfeit overflows.

"Every resident should be watchful over those who may want to offer counterfeit currency in exchange for goods or services and report them to Police immediately in order to facilitate investigation. Mobile money agents should also consider using machines that detect fake money because they are among those who are targeted by criminals,” he said.

Meanwhile, another group of three suspects was arrested on Saturday in Musanze Sector in Musanze District as they attempted to use counterfeit notes targeting shops and mobile money agents.

Police identified the suspects as Modeste Havugimana, Miriam Uwitije and Emmanuel Muvunyi, who were allegedly found with counterfeits worth Rwf54,000, Rwf12,000 and Rwf4,000, respectively.

The suspects are currently being held at Muhoza Police Station as investigations commence.

Article 604 of the Penal Code stipulates that any person who counterfeits or circulates forged currency is liable to a term of imprisonment between five and seven years and a fine between two and ten times the value of the counterfeits.

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