Two members of a suspected fake money syndicate, believed to have terrorised several Lupane businesses in the last few weeks, were on Thursday granted $50 bail each when they appeared in court on Wednesday.
Erisha Munatsi (21) and Simba Chamunorwa (25) denied the charge when they appeared before Lupane magistrate, Takudzwa Gwazemba.
The two were remanded to April 12 for trial.
On March 27, Munatsi and Chamunorwa, both from Harare, allegedly drove to Linani Nkomazana’s flea market at Ken More in Lupane where they bought a suitcase worth $15 using a fake $100 note. They allegedly received $85 as change before they drove off towards Bulawayo.
Nkomazana later realised he had been given fake money and immediately reported the matter to police.
The two were arrested at a police roadblock. Quizzed over the fraud allegations in court, the men said they did not know the money was fake as they had converted their South African rand notes into United States currency with private money-changers dealers in Bulawayo.
They also told the court they wanted to buy special pressing irons for resale in Harare.
Cases of fake $100 notes with the same serial numbers are reportedly circulating in Lupane with many shops having fallen victim to the scam in the last few weeks.
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Sanders Sibanda prosecuted the case.
