The two men arrested with counterfeit dollars

Two Portuguese citizens whose identities have not been disclosed were arrested Monday evening in Maputo’s ‘Bairro Central’ in possession of more than 16,000 fake US dollars. The versions on this story differ, as 'O País' reports today.One of the men owns a restaurant in Matola and claims that the fake dollar bills ended up in his hands more than three years ago, when he was the victim of a fraud, protesting that all he did wrong was fail to hand it all to the authorities. The other man says that he was trapped and knows nothing about fake dollars. Police says they made the counterfeit dollars and also forged “other currencies”, adding that they did it for a living, as the were unemployed. Police also says that they are now chasing a third element - who managed to escape during last Monday's operation - in order to dismantle the gang’s operations.Both the men now in jail have lived in Mozambique for more than five years and, according to PRM, they have been working in the catering and restaurant business in Matola city, on the outskirts of Maputo.Police, cited by ‘O País’, say that the two individuals are part of a gang which, besides counterfeiting US dollars, was also dedicated to falsifying “other currencies”.
The justification for the money forgery would have been that they were jobless.
"At the time of the arrest, one of the individuals said that this was their 'modus vivendi', allegedly due to the lack of jobs. The Police’s position is that this is a futile justification, as no unemployment may justify counterfeiting," said Orlando Mudumane, spokesman to the PRM in Maputo, cited by the same source.
During the operation that led to the arrest of the two men, a third member of the group reportedly managed to escape. Among the alleged forgers gang, the fugitive is the one who supposedly owns the material used for the production of fake bills. "This is a work the police are doing, based on sources that provide information on such cases. We are now in pursuit of the third member of the gang, in order to dismantle the scheme," added Mudumane.One of the accused acknowledges that he is the owner of the US$16,000 counterfeited dollar bills. He claims, however, that he received this money as the result of a fraud committed against him, three years ago, in his Matola restaurant. He also says that, ever since, he has kept the counterfeited money with him. "The fake bills are mine and were left in my restaurant, more than three years ago. By my stupidity, I never took them," said the unidentified detainee, cited by 'O País'.The other detainee, according to the same source, simply “denies the false dollars", claiming that he was "caught in a trap”. "I have only two words to say. I was caught in a trap and I don’t know anything about fake dollars."The two Portuguese citizens are currently detained at the 7th Police Station in Maputo city and a criminal case has been open.