The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), in the city of Chimoio, Manica province, arrested a citizen on Saturday for counterfeiting notes of the new Metical series.

The accused allegedly forged four metical notes of the new family using a printing machine at his workplace.

The man was caught red-handed in a commercial establishment belonging to a Chinese national, where he wanted to buy a razor.

The accused confessed to the daring act to journalists, but refused to name his workplace in order to protect his employer, who, according to him, had nothing to do with the crime.

"Actually, on a Wednesday, I had this idea of photocopying money because it would come out in color, and so I carried on. I photocopied it on Friday and, on Saturday, as I already had the idea of buying those machines, I went into the china and he realized they were fake. So I went on the run and was caught by the locals," he said.

The Head of the Public Relations Department at the PRM Provincial Command in Manica, Mouzinho Manasse, explained that it was the shopkeeper who discovered the counterfeit money and reported it to the police.

"The owner of the store, seeing the counterfeit notes, notified the police and thanks to the prompt intervention of the police, it was possible to neutralize and seize the amount that was to be used to buy the machines," he said.