Three arrested after custom officials intercept bus with Sh1.3m in fake currency
Three people were on Friday arrested after custom officials at Busia border point intercepted a Modern Coast bus ferrying fake currency.
In a statement, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) said Sh1.3 million in Ugandan currency was recovered from the bus.
“Customs officials from Uganda Revenue Authority have seized counterfeit money which was being smuggled into the country via a modern coast bus. The Ugandan currency notes had been stashed in a conspicuous package that had been declared but later manually crossed checked,” URA said in a statement.
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According to the authority, the fact that the money had been declared before it was manually crossed checked triggered suspicion from officers who went ahead and opened the package. The officials then found 10,000 and 500 Ugandan currency notes carefully stashed inside an envelope.
Initially, the plan was to charge the company for failing to declare the cash but upon verification it was established that the cash was counterfeit.
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According to Ugandan law, prohibited goods attract a fine equivalent to 50 per cent of the value of items while the penalty for counterfeit currency is imprisonment.
On the other hand, Section 199 of the East African Community Customs Act of 2004 sets a fine of not more than Sh500,000 for such means of conveyance.
URA said it continues to employ measures to counter economic saboteurs who are likely to bring about artificial inflation to the economy.
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