A trader from Kathiani in Yatta sub-county was arraigned in Machakos Court on Tuesday after he was arrested in possession of fake currency over the weekend.
Martin Muchiri, 26, was apprehended by detectives from criminal investigation department after an M-Pesa agent at Kithimani market alerted the police after noticing the fake notes attempted to transact from her shop.
He was arrested with Sh1,000 fake notes amounting to Sh21,000 on Saturday with the plan to deposit the amount into his M-Pesa account.
He pleaded not guilty before Resident Magistrate Hellen Mbati and was granted Sh80,000 bond or cash bail of Sh45,000.
The case was set to be mentioned on October 14 while the hearing will be on October 20, 2015.
Mr Mbati said the suspect was facing charges of being in possession of fake currency contrary to the law.
Yatta police boss told the press earlier that Muchiri tried to escape when the M-Pesa agent realised that the money was fake.
“The suspect wanted to deposit Sh16,000 but the M-Pesa agent told him that she could only deposit Sh10,000, the man agreed to deposit the Sh10,000 and during the transaction she realised the currency was fake and immediately alerted the police,” he explained.