Two men suspected to be involved in a fake currency syndicate have been arrested and Sh200 million fake money in foreign currencies recovered from their hideout in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa area.

Bobby Kariuki Kimani, 27, was arrested during a Thursday midnight raid at Mining offices in Tabere Crescent 15, where papers resembling US Dollars, Euros and Pounds were recovered stashed in a travelling bag. 

Kimani led Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) detectives to another office situated at Dik Dik Gardens where the second suspect identified as Harun Githinji Kinyua, 23, was arrested and two kilogrammes of dry leaves substance suspected to be bhang was recovered. 

“Over Sh200 million in fake US Dollars, Euros and Pounds was confiscated yesterday in Kileleshwa by officers acting on a tip-off and one suspect; 27-year-old Bobby Kariuki Kimani arrested. He will be arraigned today (Friday) and charged with forgery contrary to Section 367(a) of the Penal Code,” Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said. 

Police are investigating the real owners of the offices disguised as trading in precious stones, who are believed to be the masterminds behind the syndicate with cross-border links. 

Kariuki is suspected to be an employee of an intricate web of fraudsters targeting foreigners.

In 2016, CID officers smashed a cross-border fake money printing ring and recovered Sh112 billion fake currency. 

Two foreigners believed to be key in the syndicate, a Niger Mohammed Sani alias Mustafa and Cameroonian Ousman Bako, were arrested at Kilimani and Diamond Estate along Mombasa Road, respectively.

The money was allegedly shipped from war-torn and extremist controlled Syria in the Middle East.