Malindi police arrest Ugandan woman with fake US dollars
Malindi police on Tuesday evening arrested a Ugandan woman with fake US dollars at the Seven Island Resort in Watamu.
Kitanda Rashida was found with $900 in suspected fake currency.
Malindi sub-county police Commander John Kemboi said the suspect was arrested after officers were informed by the security team at the hotel.
“The woman was pretending to be a customer and booked a room for two days. She paid $150 using the fake money,” he said.
The cashier became suspicious of the currency, after an earlier warning was issued about fake US dollars in circulation in Watamu and Malindi.
The hotel then alerted the police.
Mr Kemboi said the fake money started circulating one week ago.
“We searched the suspect and recovered $900 in $50 notes believed to be fake,” he said.
The suspect is also linked to another incident at Kobe Resort, he said.
At the hotel, she had already transacted $900 believed to be fake.
“She booked a room at the hotel but the cashier did not realise that she had been given fake currency, but found out only after the woman had left,” he said.
The incident happened on August 16.
Mr Kemboi also said that the woman is in Kenya illegally.
He added that police started getting information about her immediately after she started using fake currencies.
“The middle-aged woman is in the country illegally and she had toured Watamu town in the last one week. She has been moving to different hotels using fake US dollars. Some cashiers were alert and were able to detect the currency while others lost the money,” he said.
Mr Kemboi said the suspect will be charged with counterfeiting.
A security manager at one of the affected hotels told the Nation that they found out about the woman through their security networks on a WhatsApp group.
The manager, who sought anonymity, said the woman first hit the Casino hotel in Malindi. She paid for services with $150 in suspected fake currency.
She then went to Ocean Spot and passed an unknown amount of money in fake currency.
She later proceeded to the Hemingway hotel in Watamu, where she gave out fake $450 notes.
“The cashier was quick to detect the scam and she alerted the hotel management, who informed the police,” he said.
The suspect booked a room at Seven Island Resort, saying she was waiting for her boyfriend, who was to join her from Mombasa.
Seven Island Resort management declined to speak to reporters.
