9yrs or E13 000 fine for E67 300 fake notes
SITEKI – A 25-yearold man of Mpolonjeni was yesterday sentenced to pay a fine of E13 000 or nine years imprisonment for being found in possession of fake notes worth E67 300 at Mpolonjeni in May this year.
In Count One, Baningi Masina was charged with contravening Section 3 (1) (c) of the Counterfeit Currency Order Act of 1974 in that he was found in possession of 47 South African counterfeit bank notes with a value of E4 700.
Possession
In Count Two, Masina was further charged with contravening Section 3 (1) (c) of the Counterfeit Currency Order Act of 1974 in that he was found in possession of 626 South African counterfeit bank notes with face value of E62 600.
Siteki Magistrate Machawe Bhembe in passing sentence told the accused that as per his assertion that he was dealing in dagga, which was a serious offense and the verdict should set an example to others.
Bhembe further told the accused that the court considered that he did not waste the court’s time and that he was a first offender hence on Count One, he had to pay a fine of E3 000 or face two years in prison.
The magistrate further sentenced the accused to seven years in jail with an option to pay a E10 000 fine in Count Two.
He suspended or two years or E2 000 fine in the sentence on condition that the accused was not found to have committed a similar offense in a period not exceeding a period of two years. “In summary, your sentence is E8 000 or five years imprisonment,” he said.
Welfare
In mitigation, Masina had pleaded with the court to be lenient when passing sentence considering that he was a bread winner and reside with his grandmother who depends on him for her welfare.
He also enlightened the court that he was also self-employed hence his source of income depended on securing customers to ensure that he put food on the table for his family.