The recent arrest of money exchangers in Ethiopia and the seizure of their money by Woyanne thugs is a day-light robbery of innocent store owners who are trying to make a living.
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APA (Addis Ababa) – The Woyanne regime on Saturday launched an operation to shut down all black market money changers, accusing them of being illegal traders. The Ethiopian Woyanne federal police said that they have arrested a number of “illegal” money changers in Addis Ababa along with hundreds of thousands dollars and euros in their possession.
The crack down on these “illegal” black marketeers is being taken after the country faces inflation, which is said to be over 20%.
This is the first time that the government has started to take measures against these money changers, despite them operating quite openly in the past 16 years.
Over 400 licensed changer shops are estimated to operate in Addis Ababa legally during the past several years.
These people were operating quite in the open without any government interference during the past 16 years.
These people, like in many other countries, are giving a higher exchange rate than the official banking system, which compels many people to use their services.
Some of these money changers told APA that they were not given any notice to stop their businesses, if the government claims them to be “illegal”.
This week, for instance, one US Dollar was changing at 9 birr 70 cents at the bank while it was 10 Birr and 45 cents in the black market.
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Over $6 mln seized in black market raid
(Capital) — Police in Ethiopia have seized a staggering two million dollars in hard currency with an illegal money changer and 13 million birr in cash with another trader in an unexpected police raid, where several alleged illegal traders were arrested.
The individual with 13 million birr in cash was caught on Thursday March 13, around American Gibi in a place called Beteseb Supermarket. The hard currency was also taken as evidence. Some said that the amount seized during the raid could be over six million dollars including the amount apprehended in Ethiopian birr.
Furthermore, Addis Ababa Police has taken into custody over 35 illegal traders in connection with foreign currency exchanges that police claims has contributed to the current destabilization of prices in the country.
One dollar was changed for 10.60 birr in the past two days before the police cracked down on the black market network on Thursday, March 13, 2008.
Souvenir shops around Filwoha, behind the Ethiopian Postal Service headquarters, in front of Gandhi Memorial Hospital, behind Ethiopia Hotel, around American Gibi, and behind Hilton Hotel were raided by the police.
“The illegal money changers have been in the business for several years without facing much hassle from police,” said observers surprised by the sudden raid.
National Bank on its part had alerted on Friday, March 14 that the public should be aware of counterfeit birr that are being disbursed through the black market.
According to Ethiopian law, foreign currency is only exchangeable at authorized banks, hotels and other outlets and proper receipts should be obtained for transactions. Exchange receipts are required to convert unused Ethiopian currency back to the original foreign currency.
Non compliance with the law results in penalties levied for exchanging money on the black market, ranging from fines to imprisonment.
Source: Capital
15 thoughts on “Woyanne arrests money exchangers”
The first time I agreed on your comment.It is true those shopkeepers were doing the exchange with a tacit approval of the government. what went wrong now ,only God knows.
Is this rule for every body or just for a few? How about those woyane affilated currencey exchangers in “Merkato” who are not afraid of the “police”? Are they not causing inflation too? Hypocrite woyanes!
what went wrong? I don’t get it.what have these people done wrong? Looks like they money exchang people didn’t want to share the money with the ruling party.Now the ruling party gets to keep the whole money.I love third world.
I am not sure if they were legal. Wether they r legal or not, their money has to be returned even if that the gov’m force them not to do that job any more. I would like those people to stay there if u think for personal benefit because I want to change my EURO in black market. But the black market is not good for the country monetary system, we all know that!!! I hate woyane but stop blaming woyane for every thing.
I am pretty sure all the Tigreans were alerted beforehand, and those caught with the rest will be freed immediately while those nontigreans will languish in jail for years until proven to be innocent. Since the higherups need scapegoats, the attorney general will charge some of these poor souls with high treason for the fake gold in the bank vault! He will produce a dozen fast talking but very earnest witnesses exonerating top bank officials and blaming only these lowly creatures who by the way will be proven to have secret connections with berhanu birtukan wing of kinijit.
Woyanee is the source of all illegal activiities in that country. So, that governemnt should be dismantelled first before jailing innocent traders.
it’s an other hypocracy of TPLF, the crminal illegal government of Ethiopia is playing vital role in hard currency exchanging all over Europe and US, the decietful woyane can not hide the facts from us, who gave mandet to the Blue Nile African Art and Money Transfer to run the business from London ?? why still they are allowed the “illegal” exchange openly in merkato? it’s time to learn from Kenya we Ethiopian had enough about your brutality and incompetence.
How come an illigal government uses the word illigal to others. Does woyane know that they are the no. one illigal and corrupted government in the world. Anyway, the day will come that woyane will face justice for not only illigally possessing and smuggling the ethiopian wealth, but also for their end less crime each day for the last 17 years including killing, harrasing and abusing innocent ethiopians. In addition to that does woyane forgets that they have over 100 major illigial and corrupted companys through out the country. Any way….they say…AYENGA MESELEWAT BEKWAT……
I think I have to be honest today just for my conscious after reading your article. Make no mistake I support T.P.L.F/EPRDF. However when i heard this news about the black market thing well. first and most this people was given the license to do business the past years and paying their taxes which under the “Free Trade”
Now I belive what happend the recent arrest have to do more political than anything else…that I am not going to touch….again just for my conscious they were legal trader ..other ways if they were illigal which the goverment would have taken action long time ago again its not that the goverment wasn’t notice what is going on..but it rather something has to do with it………
Weyane have somany illegal money change’s shop all over ethiopia. even out side ethiopia .
The London exchnge money laundring company is ownd by TPLF cadre, Sweden Stokholm the money exchange run by TPLF man,money transfer from Germany, doing business for the last 16 years, who is doing the illegal business? TPLF is inhuman barbaric and dangerous to the the future of our nation.
the traders should have got prior warnings/notices not to do the business any more. After 16 years of silence, this sudden raid is meaningless. The traders should get their money back, and released. But as a country, through not like Woyane, I agree that the black market should be stopped. That is a source of counterfeit money and loss of hard currency for the country.
every body knows black market is illigal. so what is new guys? it is good for the country
Why do they call it “black market” instead of “white market”? Does any one know? Why any thing bad has to be associated with a black thing?