HARARE – A Harare man, Elton Nyamudahondo, suspected of printing and supplying fake $5 bond notes was busted on Saturday, a Harare court heard yesterday.
The 33-year-old — who produced $600-plus of the counterfeit currency — was charged with possession of articles for criminal use when he appeared before Harare magistrate Tilda Mazhande.
Prosecutor Stylon Marufu opposed Nyamudahondo’s admission to bail, arguing investigations were still pending.
Nyamudahondo’s lawyer, Clemence Takaendesa, queried why the matter had been brought to court on a full docket when investigations were still underway.
The investigating officer argued that “there is a link between the bond notes that Nyamudahondo was found in possession of, with those alleged to be supplied on the market”, adding that “the investigations . . . might prove that the accused person was actually printing fake bond notes and strengthen our case against him”.
However, Takaendesa said such issues would be determined during trial and should not qualify as grounds for opposing admission of the accused person to bail.
The bail ruling is today.
The complainant is the State represented by one detective, a constable Chindove from CID Homicide.
The State alleges that on February 25, detectives were tipped that Nyamudahondo was printing counterfeit $5 bond notes at his house.
The detectives proceeded to Nyamudahondo’s residence but they could not locate him. They were advised that he was in Dzivaresekwa Extension in Harare. It was alleged that when they arrived in Dzivaresekwa, they found Nyamudahondo seated on a bed in a bedroom holding a sheet of paper on which four $5 counterfeit bond notes were printed.
The detectives also saw an HP Office Jet 5610 scanner. Nyamudahondo was immediately arrested.
Nyamudahondo later led the detectives to recover 31 x $5 finished counterfeit notes, 103 x $5 semi-finished fake bond notes, and 47 plain sheets of the paper used to manufacture the notes and six computer cartridges.-DN
