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Three Nigerian men arrested in Homyel over counterfeit $100 notes

Three Nigerian men were arrested in Homyel on Thursday as they were trying to exchange a fake $100 note for Belarusian rubels, Veranika Pasmetsyeva, of the interior ministry’s economic crime control department, told BelaPAN.

Eighteen counterfeit $100 notes were found on them following their arrest at a local office of Belinvestbank, said the officer.

The three men, born in 1972, 1980 and 1984, arrived in Minsk from Istanbul on a plane the previous day. They headed from the airport to the central railway station where they placed $2,000 in cash on the account of their acquaintance resident in Mazyr at Belarusbank’s office. After that, they traveled to Homyel.

The Nigerians told investigators that they had bought the cash in their homeland and had not been aware that the notes were counterfeit.

They also said that they had transferred the money to the Mazyr man as part of their business development plans, according to Ms. Pasmetsyeva.

An expert has established that the fake notes are of a high quality, said the officer, noting that more examinations would be carried out.

The three Nigerians are facing a criminal charge of producing and using counterfeit money, she added.