Traders in parts of the Ashanti Regional Capital Kumasi fear the infiltration of their money with fake 200 cedi notes as fraudsters invade markets. Residents of Buokrom B Line on Friday accosted a fraudster who approached vegetables, plantain, and cassava seller with counterfeit currency to make purchases. Luck eluded the miscreant when a bystander who works in a bank alerted the trader to the illicit tender.
The trader who gave her name as Auntie Akua narrated, “It was dawn and I was sweeping when I saw he had come here to buy some food items. A friend who is a banker came to whisper to me that the money was fake. She went ahead to confront the man. He took back the note and walked away.” After hurrying away, he was trailed by some men who later spotted him in an attempt to defraud another shop in the same area. The man who was described to be in his forties with a bald head, wearing golden benchers on his teeth hopped unto a motorbike and sped off. The pursuers gave him a hot chase in two different cars and were able to apprehend him. Eyewitnesses admitted he was brought back to the area, questioned, and handed over to the police after suffering some beating from the angry residents.
Other traders who spoke to Ultimate News’ Solace Antwi indicated that over the weekend, another woman was nearly lynched when they realized she was on a shopping spree using a bundle of 200 cedi notes that looked fictitious. Auntie Akuaa who corroborated the claims recounted, “The incident happened on Friday. When I went to the market on Saturday, I was told a woman was here buying lots of things holding 200 cedi notes. She wasn’t asking for reductions or negotiating prices. People raised the alarm and got hold of her. I also heard the same happened at the race course market.”
She pointed out that from the look of the culprit and his diction she suspected he could be Nigerian. The traders are asking for the police to support them with the needed education and protection to protect them from running into huge losses, especially in such harsh economic times.
