Two Ivorians Arrested on Suspicion of Printing Fake Cedis

Two Ivorians have been arrested by the Ghana Police Service for allegedly attempting to dupe a trader on the pretext of printing both local and foreign currencies for her.
When they were arrested, the suspects, whose names were given as Tuom Kiaya, 25 and Konerassaul Elypse, 23, had in their possession some items which they claimed were meant for the printing of money.
The police found a gallon of some liquid substance, plain paper cut in the size and shape of dollar notes, gloves, and Sellotape.
Other items retrieved from them included a kitchen knife, cotton and a whitish powdery substance.
The Odorkor District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Abraham Acquaye, told the Daily Graphic that a trader, whose name had been withheld for security reasons, reported to the police that the two suspects attempted to dupe his shop attendant on July 15, 2014.
She said on that day, she was in the shop when Kiaya and Elypse approached her shop assistant and tried to convince him to part with Ghc5,000.
The suspects had claimed they were in the money-printing business and could print Ghana cedi or United States of America dollar notes.
According to Mr Acquaye, the two men allegedly told the shop attendant that they would require Ghc5,000 to do that job for him.
He said the two suspects claimed they would print and double any amount of money in either dollars or cedis.
“But the sales boy asked them to come back to the shop the next day since his employer was not around,” he said.
The next day, the suspects returned to the shop with a gallon and a bag containing the items meant for printing the money.
At the shop, they agreed to demonstrate to the shop owner how the money could be printed but insisted she gave them Ghc5,000 “before they go into action and start printing the money.”
He said at that point, the trader realised the two men were fraudsters and told them to wait for her to go home and bring the money.
Unknown to the suspects, the shop owner had locked them in the shop and had quickly reported the incident to the police who arrested them.
The two suspects, during interrogation by the police, claimed they had been victims of a similar fraud and, therefore, had decided to defraud others.