3 held with Rs 4L fake currency

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai: 



The Pydhonie police on Wednesday arrested three persons and seized fake Indian currency amounting to Rs 3.8 lakh from them near Masjid railway station. The case is likely to be transferred to the National Investigation Agency.
“We got information that three people—Alam Shaikh (28), Ataru Rehman Shaikh (38) and Gulam Shaikh (28)—will come near Masjid station with fake currency to deliver to their contact in Mumbai. We caughtthem,” said D M Kuprekar, assistant inspector of police. “All notes are in the denomination of Rs 1,000. The arrested, who were used as the “courier”, stay in a Vakola slum. One of the accused was given Rs 15,000 for expenses. 

We could not nab the person who was to take the delivery as he did not turn up,” said an officer.
The notes are of high quality and have over 98% features that are similar to real currency. All the accused originally belong to Jharkhand.

The Times of India, June 6, 2014

City is counterfeit capital of country

Battle Against Fake Notes Gets Harder As Their Quality Improves 

 

Hemali Chhapia, Mateen Hafeez & Sanjeev Shivadekar | TNN

    For several reasons, Mumbai is the financial capital of the country. But not everything is positive about it: hidden in that moniker is the fact that it is India’s capital for phoney money. Delhi, on the other hand, comes a close second in the number of fake notes seized from its various dark alleys, but ranks number one when one puts a value to those notes, which really have no worth. In the last few years, the states of Maharashtra and Delhi have contributed to 30% of all counterfeit bills detected in circulation.
 
    Information sought by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal on fake currency bills reveals that Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal come next on the chart. Each year, the count of fake scrip netted by the police and the Reserve Bank of India rises. In the first six months of this year, about two million fake notes, making up over Rs 100 million, were seized. In all of 2011, about six million counterfeit notes, accounting for Rs 260 million, were seized.
 
    RBI spokesperson Alpana Kilawala said counterfeit notes land up at the RBI from sources such as banks and individuals who come to exchange money. “But central banks all over the world try to stay ahead of forgers; introducing plastic notes is an effort in that direction.”
 
    But the battle against the business of duplicating bills seems to be a losing one. Security agencies say that the quality of fake notes is getting better by the day, which makes it even more difficult to detect them. Counterfeiters use the very imported paper the government uses to print notes, the agencies say. “Around 95% of the features of new fake notes are similar to those of genuine notes. The quality of paper is the same, the colour and the ink are the same; counterfeiters are now trying to meticulously copy the micro-lettering,” said a police officer. 

    Maharashtra’s security agencies believe that fake notes seized by them in April 2009 were printed in a government printing press in Quetta, Pakistan. Notes of the same series were detected in Uttar Pradesh, with the UP Special Task Force suspecting that most of those were printed in the security press at Malir Cantonment, Karachi, and three other presses in Pakistan. 

    That summation captures the mainstream opinion among economists and within the expert community that most of the fake currency is flowing in from across the border to destabilize India’s economy. Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh said that while most of the currency lands up in metros, where the number of economic transactions is high, the notes initially land in tiny hamlets, where vigilance is low.
 
    “The Bihar, UP and Kolkata routes are no longer used frequently. These have been replaced by Jharkhand. Peerpur village in Sahibganj district has emerged as a prime landing spot. It is 35km from the Bangladesh border,” said a police officer. 

    In November 2009, the Pydhonie police in Mumbai arrested six youths from Jharkhand and seized fake currency worth Rs 5 lakh. The notes were in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The accused would get a commission of 50% for circulating the fake currency. Each note bore a fake signature of former RBI governor Y V Reddy. In April 2010, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested six people and seized fake currency worth Rs 4 lakh. Again, the youths belonged to Jharkhand. In September last year, two youths were caught and they, too, were Jharkhand residents. 


The Times of India, August 27, 2012

Innovation marks criminal enterprise

Mateen Hafeez & Sanjeev Shivadekar | TNN

Mumbai: Circulating fake currency notes (FCNs) in India, as a form of financial terrorism, is kept alive by periodic changes in routes, hubs and modus operandi.

    Once, the most notorious routes for smuggling fake currency into India were the Bangladesh-Kolkata (via the North 24 Parganas), Nepal-Gorakhpur and Nepal-Bihar routes. But now, Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district has emerged as the main landing spot for fake notes sent from across the border. 

    Police sources said Birganj, the biggest town in Nepal’s Terai region, was earlier the main transit point for almost all fake currency entering India, with the Pakistani embassy in Kathmandu suspected to be the nerve centre of the operation. It was suspected that a senior ISI officer working in the embassy’s education department, K Mehmood, ran the network with the help of another ISI officer, Jamil Alam. Two other major routes were through Beherwa village and from Birganj to Biratnagar, all lying on the Indo-Nepalese border.
 

    “Due to India and Nepal agreeing to fight the menace together, printers are now using Jharkhand as the transit point. There are allegations that the police in that state are lenient towards the accused,” said a police officer from Mumbai.
 

    The newest hub for the FCN racket that seems to be emerging is Maharashtra. “Last year, the state police arrested 105 people in connection with fake currency cases. A colour printer was seized during one of the raids in Beed district,” home minister R R Patil told the legislative council earlier this year.
 

    Joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy admitted that fake currency cases were on the rise. But he attributed this to greater vigilance by the police and other law enforcing agencies. “Much of the fake currency is smuggled from across the border. Pakistan is a major player when it comes to pumping counterfeit notes into India. They are circulated especially in Mumbai and the other metro cities with the aim to destabilize the country’s economy,” he said. 

 

 

The Times of India, August 27, 2012

4 held, 13.6 L in fake currency seized

LID OFF RACKET

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested four persons for possessing and circulating counterfeit currency. The sleuths recovered fake currency with a face value of Rs 13.6 lakh from the arrested accused.

The suspects have been identified as Samid Shaikh (35), Dildar Haadi (45), Raifqul Raisuddin (23) and Pratap Chaudhury (24). While Haadi hails from Delhi, the other three are natives of Kolkata.

The accused have told the interrogators that they procured fake notes from one Gulam Murtuza, a Kolkata resident. Murtuza is a repeat offender and had been arrested thrice earlier for distributing counterfeit currency.
“Murtuza used to travel to Bangladesh thrice a month to get fake notes. He would pay Rs 32 for a fake note of Rs 100 denomination. He then sold the same to the arrested group for Rs 36 and the group in turn sold it to the distributors for Rs 40,” said ATS chief Rakesh Maria.

Raisuddin is a contract labourer in Nalasopara who even paid his employees in fake currency. “Raisuddin and Chaudhury are the main suppliers in Maharashtra,” said Maria.


The Times of India, December 1, 2010

Rs 5 lakh fake notes seized

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested seven persons for carrying and supplying fake Indian currency notes. The police have seized fake currency amounting to Rs 5.1 lakh from the accused.

The arrests were made near Samadhan Society, Shastri Nagar in Santacruz (W), where the suspects had gone to deliver the notes. “We arrested them on a tip-off and are probing the case further,’’ said a senior ATS official. The accused have been remanded in police custody till April 30.

Those accused are Mubarak Hussain (28), Himayun Khan (26), Mukhtar Ali (22), Mehdoor Shaikh (23), Badroo Shaikh (19), Akbar Shaikh (23) and Badal Afsar Shaikh (20), all residents of West Bengal. “The accused worked on a 20% commission. They came to Mumbai last week to deliver the notes,’’ said an official.

The currency was in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. “The paper used to manufacture the notes is of high quality. It seems like a bigger and organised racket. We have got some more information and are looking for the mastermind,’’ said the official.

The Times of India, April 20, 2010

New route lands notes in Jharkhand

ACCESS POINT

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The route financial terrorism has been taking into India has changed.

Earlier, fake currency was smuggled in through the Bangladesh-Kolkata route (via North 24 Parganas) or the Nepal-Gorakhpur or Nepal-Bihar routes. But these are no longer the most notorious routes for smuggling fake currency into India. Now, Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district has emerged as the main landing spot for fake currency from across the border.

“The Bihar, UP and Kolkata routes are not being used as frequently. These routes have been replaced by the Jharkhand one. Peerpur village in Sahibganj district has emerged as a prime landing spot. It is 35 km from the Bangladesh border,’’ said a police officer.

In November 2009, the Pydhonie police arrested six youths from Jharkhand and seized fake Indian currency worth Rs 5 lakh. The notes were of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination. The accused would get a commission of 50% for circulating the fake currency. Each note bore fake signatures of former RBI governor Y V Reddy.

Similarly, in April last year, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested six people and seized fake currency worth Rs 4 lakh. Again, the youths belonged to Jharkhand. In September last year, two youths were caught and they were also Jharkhand residents.

Investigators said the name of one Tahoor Ali has cropped up during investigations into several fake currency cases. Ali, an Indian citizen, was detained by the Peerpur police in August 2009, but let off after a routine inquiry.

Police sources said that Birganj, the biggest town in Nepal’s Terai region, was earlier the main transit point for almost all the fake currency entering India. The Pakistan embassy in Kathmandu was suspected to be the nerve centre for fake currency operations. It was suspected that K Mehmood, a senior ISI officer working in the embassy’s education department, ran the network with the help of another ISI officer, Jamil Alam. The other routes for smuggling fake currency were through Beherwa village and from Birganj to Biratnagar, all places on the Nepal border.

“However, due to India and Nepal agreeing to fight the menace of fake currency together, the printers are now using Jharkhand as the transit point. There are allegations that the police in Jharkhand are lenient towards the accused,’’ said an officer.

FORGING A NEW TRAIL

EARLIER, the prime route for getting fake notes into India was to smuggle them from Bangladesh to North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal

NOW, an increasing number of cases are being detected in which the notes are sent from Bangladesh to the Sahibganj district in Jharkhand
The smuggling of notes from Nepal to Bihar has declined

COSTLY FAKES
In April 2009, the Anti-Terrorism Squad seized fake Rs 1,000 notes that were of a very high quality. It would cost as much as Rs 450 to print such notes, the police said It was the first fake currency case in which the notes were suspected to have been printed in a government press. The police suspect they were printed at the government press in Quetta, Pakistan The notes had Optically Variable Ink, but the RBI said it was not of very good quality They had the latent image of the numeral ‘1000’ on the right side, but the ink was too light The letters ‘RBI’ and numeral ‘1000’ could be seen with a magnifying glass between the Mahatma Gandhi portrait and the vertical band, but ‘RBI’ and ‘1000’ were written fewer times The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency

The Times of India, March 5, 2010

Financial terror’s tentacles grow

The State Police Lodged 386 Fake Currency Cases In 2009. Officials Say The Trail Leads Across The Border

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: In just a single year, the Maharashtra police lodged 386 cases involving fake Indian currency notes. That amounts to more than a case a day.

The police say this would be just the tip of the iceberg with respect to how much fake Indian currency was circulated in the state in 2009. The problem is acute enough that any person could be carrying fake Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes and not know it.

“In Mumbai alone, there were as many as 60 cases registered in 2009,’’ said a police official.

Most of the fake notes seized—3,369—were of Rs 1,000 denomination, while 7,500 notes were of Rs 500 denomination. This amounted to Rs 71.19 lakh in seized fake currency. Police said a huge chunk of counterfeit notes remain undetected in and outside Maharashtra.

While security agencies say they are not leaving any stone unturned in the bid to stop the influx of fake currency into the country, they admit that the quality of the fakes is getting better by the day, which makes it even more difficult to detect them. The printers of the counterfeit notes are spending a lot of money on creating them because they aren’t interested so much in the money as they are in financial terrorism, or “destabilising the Indian economy’’, said the official.

“Last year, 153 people were arrested for carrying and circulating fake currency. Interestingly, all the notes seized by the security agencies are suspected to have been printed in government printing presses outside the country,’’ said the official. Security establishment officials suspect all the notes to have originated in Pakistan, though they may have been routed through Bangladesh or Nepal.

Police officials suspect that fake curre n cy amounting to crores of rupees has been pumped into the market. These notes may be of several denominations, which the police are reluctant to reveal. “It would create fear among people and they would avoid using these denominations. We do not want this to happen,’’ the officer said.

“Detection takes place through human intelligence and machines. Machine detection results in fewer seizures, while human intelligence and police action results in lakhs being seized at a time,’’ said another officer.

When fake currency is detected, it is sent to the RBI and a case is registered with the police. In 2009, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was made the main agency to
deal with such cases.

The counterfeiters use the same imported paper used by the Indian government to print notes. “Around 95% of the features in the new fake notes are similar to those in the genuine notes. The paper quality is the same, colour and ink are same and the counterfeiters are now trying to meticulously copy the microlettering, which are significant features in detecting a fake,’’ said the officer.

Maharashtra’s security agencies believe that fake notes seized by them in April 2009 were printed in a government printing press at Quetta, Pakistan. Notes of the same series were detected in Uttar Pradesh and the UP Special Task Force suspected that most of those notes were printed in the security press at Malir Cantonment, Karachi, and three other printing presses in Pakistan.

The Times of India, March 5, 2010

Man held in Andheri with Rs 4.2 lakh fake currency

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested Ainul Wajid Shaikh (25) from Andheri and recovered fake Indian currency totalling Rs 4.24 lakh from him. The notes, the police suspect, were printed outside the country.

“Shaikh was carrying fake currency in the denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. His gang members are still at large,’’ said an officer. In the last one year, the ATS and the city police have arrested around 18 people, of whom 15 are from Jharkhand.

A police team comprising inspectors Sanjeev Tonapi, Vijay Kadam and API Sunil Mane nabbed the accused who had come to Mumbai for the second time. “He would work on a 40% commission and the gang would send the genuine currency back to their bosses through taka system,’’ said an officer, adding that in the taka system, one deducts his or her commission from the payment received and sends the rest of the money home through an acquaintance,’’ said an officer.

Shaikh hails from Malda district, which is located near the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. The current arrest points to trans-border trafficking of fake currency, the police said. “The seized fake notes are so good in quality that it would impossible for a layman to notice any difference. The racketeers have now started manufacturing fake notes with signatures of former RBI governor Y V Reddy. The latest security features incorporated while designing the notes are meticulously replicated,’’ added an officer.

Since 2003, the ATS has so far seized fake currency amounting to Rs 61 lakh and arrested 80 persons, including 21 Bangladeshis. “The National Investigation Agency has taken samples of currency notes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as the fake ones and found that they have one thing in common—the paper used in all of them is made in Germany,’’ said an officer.

The Times of India, January 14, 2010

Man held in Andheri with Rs 4.2 lakh fake currency

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested Ainul Wajid Shaikh (25) from Andheri and recovered fake Indian currency totalling Rs 4.24 lakh from him. The notes, the police suspect, were printed outside the country.

“Shaikh was carrying fake currency in the denominations of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. His gang members are still at large,’’ said an officer. In the last one year, the ATS and the city police have arrested around 18 people, of whom 15 are from Jharkhand.

A police team comprising inspectors Sanjeev Tonapi, Vijay Kadam and API Sunil Mane nabbed the accused who had come to Mumbai for the second time. “He would work on a 40% commission and the gang would send the genuine currency back to their bosses through taka system,’’ said an officer, adding that in the taka system, one deducts his or her commission from the payment received and sends the rest of the money home through an acquaintance,’’ said an officer.

Shaikh hails from Malda district, which is located near the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. The current arrest points to trans-border trafficking of fake currency, the police said. “The seized fake notes are so good in quality that it would impossible for a layman to notice any difference. The racketeers have now started manufacturing fake notes with signatures of former RBI governor Y V Reddy. The latest security features incorporated while designing the notes are meticulously replicated,’’ added an officer.

Since 2003, the ATS has so far seized fake currency amounting to Rs 61 lakh and arrested 80 persons, including 21 Bangladeshis. “The National Investigation Agency has taken samples of currency notes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as the fake ones and found that they have one thing in common—the paper used in all of them is made in Germany,’’ said an officer.

The Times of India, January 14, 2010

Four held with Rs 46,500 in fake currency

NOTE-WORTHY TRAP

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested four persons for possessing fake currency valued at Rs 46,500 from Mankhurd. The suspects had planned to circulate the fake notes in Vashi’s APMC market. According to investigators, the notes, which are in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, could have been printed in a Pakistani press.

“We received a tip-off that four persons who would be gathering near the Mankhurd bridge with fake currency. A trap was laid and the four were arrested,’’ said inspector Ravindra Doiphode.

The arrested accused have been identified as Ibrahim Shaikh (25), Barkat Bhola Shaikh (19), Samphuna Javed Shaikh (25) and Matiur Shaikh (30). Ibrahim hails from West Bengal while the other three are natives of Sahebganj district in Jharkhand.

“Ibrahim and Barkat were arrested in Hubli by the Karnataka police in 2007 for circulating fake currency. The duo was granted bail on December 21, 2009. Within days of their release, they again started dealing in fake currency,’’ added Doiphode.

The accused have told the investigators that they were promised a commission of 30% to 40%. The security features on the fake notes are 90% similar to that on genuine notes, said an official.

“The notes are suspected to have been printed in a press in Quetta, Pakistan and smuggled to India via Bangladesh. The mastermind in this case could be Tahoor Ali whose racket was busted by the local police two months ago,’’ said an officer.

The Times of India, January 7, 2010

Six held trying to palm off Rs 4-lakh fake currency

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Six Jharkhand residents have been arrested over the past week for possessing and circulating fake Indian currency. The Pydhonie police have also seized the counterfeit notes with a face value of Rs 4.08 lakh. The kingpin, Tahoor Ali, however, is still wanted.

The accused, Haroon Ali Shaikh (20), Izbul Shaikh (27), Mubeen Shaikh (25), Umruddin Shaikh (26), Mufazul Shaikh (19) and Ismail Shaikh (20), have been remanded in police custody.

According to the police, the six had brought fake currency, with a total face value of Rs 5 lakh, to circulate in the market. “They came to Mumbai two months ago and stayed in the slums on P D’Mello Road. Posing as coconut vendors and flower sellers to avoid suspicion, they would buy inexpensive items with the fake notes. Once they would get genuine currency in return, they would pass on the amount to their ringleader, after taking their commission from it,’’ said senior inspector Shamsher Pathan.

R K Padmanabhan, additional police commissioner, said 100 notes of Rs 500 denomination and 358 Rs-1,000 notes were seized from the accused who were nabbed after head constable Jameel Sayeed got a tip-off. “The paper and printing quality of the notes are amazing. The accused claimed that they were only assigned with the job of circulating the fake currency. They would also get a commission of 50%,” Padmanabhan said. The counterfeit notes are made so cleverly that it’s difficult to differentiate them from original ones. Each bears the fake signature of former RBI governor Y V Reddy and Rs 1,000 notes belong to 5AC and 7AF series, while the Rs 500 ones are of the 5SB series.

The accused are from Peerpur village in Sahibganj district in Jharkhand. “The place is just 35 km from the Bangladesh border. The notes might have been smuggled in from Bangladesh but we have to verify it,’’ Padmanabhan said. Tahoor Ali, the supplier of the notes, was detained by the Peerpur police two months ago, but was let off after a routine inquiry.

The police said one of the accused, Haroon, came to Mumbai two months ago. He was admitted to a hospital for a surgery, and he payed the Rs-21,000 bill with genuine money that he had earned by circulating counterfeit notes.

The Times of India, December 7, 2009

ATS to bring fake currency accused to city - LUCKNOW LINK

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) will bring Mohammed Arif to the city from Lucknow where he was arrested on Saturday for being involved in a fake currency racket that was busted in Mumbai a month ago. Arif, who supplied fake Indian currency to four persons, was on the run and was finally caught by the Uttar Pradesh police from Charbagh area in Lucknow.

The UP police seized fake notes of Rs 100 denomination and important documents from him. “Last month, the ATS arrested four persons and seized fake currency with a face value of Rs 78,000. Arif was wanted in this case,’’ said ATS chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi.

Arif, who hails from Kannauj, told the UP police that the counterfeit notes were supplied to him by another member, Girjesh Yadav alias Guddu. He would pass on the notes to others in Mumbai, who would get a 20% commission for circulating the currency, the police said.

The Times of India, September 28, 2009

Cheaper counterfeit notes in circulation

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The making of fake notes is getting more economical but that is also telling on their quality.

Investigations into the latest fake currency bust in Mumbai have revealed it takes only Rs 20 to churn out a fake Rs-100 note. This is less than half the cost that making the fakes recovered in the past entailed. Senior police officials, who busted fake-currency rackets in the past, told TOI fraudsters would spend at least Rs 450 on making a Rs-1,000 fake.

But all this is telling on the quality of the fakes. The old fakes were at least 95% close to the original Rs-1,000 notes. But the new fakes, that cost only onefifth of the originals, have only about 70% features matching with the originals.

In April, the ATS seized 45 notes of Rs 1,000 denomination, of high quality. The case was handed over to the National Investigaing Agency (NIA) after notes of the same series were found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. “Those notes were from a government printing press in Quetta, Pakistan,’’ said the officer. He added the foreignbased manufacturers do not want to earn profit but to subverse the Indian economy. The seizure was followed by several meetings between RBI officials and the police.

On Wednesday, the ATS arrested three persons, Mohammad Arshad (35), Zakir (37) and Matlu (36), from Juhu and recovered fake currency of Rs 78,400 from them. The trio was staying in Malvani. Police claimed they got a tip off and arrested them. Two of the three accused are from Delhi and the third is from Lucknow. “The notes are of low quality and the paper used to manufacture them is also of poor quality. Those arrested were carriers and the notes were made in India only,’’ said ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi.

Police said the notes were made in Kanpur. “The manufacturers would scan a Rs 100 note and then print it on plain paper. They used a cutter to cut the note. Due to lack of technical expertise, there are several loopholes, like the image of Mahatma Gandhi on the left side of the note is almost invisible,’’ said an officer.

He added poor ink was used to print the watermark and silver line. “The manufacturers hardly spent Rs 20 for each note’’ said an offier.

The notes were circulated not on commission basis, but the carriers “bought three Rs 100 notes by giving a genuine Rs 100 note to the manufacturers,’’ added the officer.

What gave away the fake Rs 100 notes:
* Paper quality is poor, instead of imported paper used by the government printing press
* The paper was too thick as compared to the original notes
* Security thread was not prominent. Besides, the Gandhi image on the left of the Rs 100 note was too light, making it almost invisible
* There was no watermark on the notes
* The silver line in the middle was visible on some notes
* The fake notes were scanned and printing was blurred
ORIGIN: Manufactured in Kanpur
COST: Police suspect that the cost of manufacturing a fake Rs 100 note was around Rs 20 each
AIMED AT: These notes were aimed to be circulated in slums and among semi-literate or illiterate people like auto drivers, porters and roadside tea stalls etc

Reality about fake notes How the Rs 1000 fakes stood apart
* The Rs 1,000 denomination notes seized by the ATS in April, 2009 contained Optically Variable Ink, but the RBI said the ink was not of too good quality
* The notes had latent image of the numeral ‘1000’ on the right side of the note, but the ink was light
* The letters ‘RBI’ and the numeral ‘1000’ can be seen with the help of a magnifying glass in the area between the Mahatma Gandhi portrait and the vertical band. However, the ‘RBI’ and ‘1000’ were less in number
ORIGIN: Suspected to have been printed in a government press in Quetta, Pakistan
COST: Cops say such high-quality fakes would cost Rs 450 per note to make
AIMED AT: Such notes were aimed for circulation in big cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Goa

RBI panel’s observation:
A report by an RBI-appointed committee says in 2008-09, the number of counterfeit notes detected at RBI offices and bank branches rose 103.3% over the previous year. It has recommended several measures including installing note sorting machines at banks

The Times of India, August 22, 2009

Watch out, your Rs 500 note could be fake

Amount of fake currency suspected in market: Rs 1,69,000 crore Amount seized by authorities so far: Rs 63 crore
14 ARRESTED : In last two years across India; two alleged Bangladeshis with fake notes killed in encounter
THE LASHKAR LINK :An LeT terrorist in J&K caught talking to his handlers in Pak in January 2008 about fake notes

Around Rs 1,69,000 crore of fake money is in the system. And it’s growing. TOI looks into the growing threat

* Last month, when Maharashtra crime branch and anti-terrorism squad sleuths caught six persons with counterfeit currency worth over Rs 9 lakh, they themselves couldn’t make out the difference between the fake and genuine notes. “They have 95% features of genuine notes,’’ says an official. The provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have been invoked—for the first time against fake currency.
* Zahoor Ahmad Mir of Rawalpora, Srinagar, withdrew Rs 2,000 from an ATM. He was told by a shopkeeper after his weekend shopping that the currency was fake. A frantic Zahoor rushed to the bank, the ATM of which had coughed up the 500-rupee notes. “But the bank officials refused to accept them. They suspected I had got the fake notes from somewhere else,’’ he says.

The proliferation of fake Rs 500 notes has just got bigger. You never know when you are holding one—or more. Even ATMs are disgorging them, indicating the counterfeits are so good that bankers are failing to detect them. Despite measures taken by RBI, the home ministry and intelligence agencies, the fear of the fake has grown—from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Gujarat to Assam.

Officials say there’s a high volume of fake notes of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in the market, and that they have had limited success so far in controlling their spread. The Naik committee, set up to assess the menace of fake currency, says counterfeit money worth around Rs 1,69,000 crore is sloshing around the system. And just a tiny fraction of it, Rs 63 crore, has been seized.

Both the government and common people are aware of the problem, but feel ill-equipped to deal with it. In Chandigarh, traders, bank employees and petrol pump attendants turn suspicious whenever they get a Rs 500 note. “A petrol station attendant refused to accept the Rs 500 note I gave him and warned me about the glut of fake notes in the market,’’ said Rajinder Singh, a local resident. Even in Delhi, shopkeepers take extra time to accept high-denomination notes. They first hold the note against bright light and ensure that the water-mark is intact.

Many in Kerala are worried over outsourcing loading of currency in the ATMs to private agencies.”My salary account is with a private bank and I also have a savings account with SBI. Lest I get a counterfeit note, I have now started transferring money only by cheques,’’ says A K Nair, a government employee.

“The extent of the problem can be gauged from the huge gap between actual seizures and circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN). Although several steps have been taken by the finance ministry and RBI, weeding out FICNs may take a long time,’’ says a senior home ministry official.

With inputs from Vishwa Mohan & Richi Verma (Delhi), Mateen Hafiz (Mumbai), Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui (Lucknow), Anantha Krishnan, (Thiruvananthapuram), Anand Bodh (Chandigarh) and Gauree Malkarlekar (Panaji)

The Times of India, July 31, 2009

Most fake notes printed in Pakistani presses

TAKE NOTE OF FAKES:
The cost of a manufacturing a fake Rs 1,000 note is about Rs 400 Making, keeping, distributing or using fake notes comes under
organised crime Punishment: Can go up to LIFE SENTENCE

Times News Network
According to security agencies, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, have reported the maximum seizure of fake notes in recent years. The latest haul in Ghaziabad, Noida and Meerut reveal how organized gangs, said to be funded by Pakistan, have penetrated right up to Delhi’s borders.

Shopkeepers’ associations in Delhi are actively involved in monitoring the counterfeits, many of which come out of ATMs and banks. Says Sanjeev Mehra, president of Delhi’s Khan Market Traders’ Association, “Every shopkeeper has been issued a circular listing 10 ways of detecting a fake note. The local bank in the market has an officer posted for this very purpose.’’ Experienced shopkeepers feel the texture of the note, particularly when it’s of a large denomination, and hold it under lights to see the water-mark. However, if this year’s three major seizures—amounting to over Rs 35 lakh— in UP and Maharashtra are any indication, it’s the quality of FICN that has alarmed the security agencies. The paper, say intelligence sleuths, is almost identical to the original, which makes their identification very tough.

The UP STF suggests that most of these notes were printed in the security press at Malir Cantonment in Karachi and three other printing presses in Pakistan. Maharashtra’s security agencies, too, believe that the fake notes seized by them were printed in a Pakistan government printing press at Quetta.

Fearful businessmen and shopkeepers are installing machines to check counterfeits. In Kerala, the state-run SUPPLYCO (Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited) with 12 petrol pumps has issued specific instructions to its outlets to be wary of fake notes.

But there are limitations. For instance, large business outlets that handle heavy transactions can’t run a counterfeit check every time it receives cash. “During a hectic day, one can’t check every Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 note,’’ says Mujtaba Haaziq, manufacturer of signages in Panaji. “In any case, it’s the government’s job to tackle the problem,’’ says Barnabe Sapeco, a well-known Panaji restaurateur. The police say arresting the carriers has not taken them to FICN masterminds. “The carriers are briefed on a need-to-know basis and are not aware of the entire network,’’ said a Maharashtra crime branch official. Intelligence agencies are fairly certain that the brains behind the FICN racket are sitting in Bangladesh and Pakistan. As proof, they cite the seizure of an Indian currency-minting machine in Bangladesh in 2006.

With inputs from Vishwa Mohan & Richi Verma (Delhi), Mateen Hafiz (Mumbai), Pervez Iqbal Siddiqui (Lucknow), Anantha Krishnan, (Thiruvananthapuram), Anand Bodh (Chandigarh) and Gauree Malkarlekar (Panaji)

Work on to get back black money: PM
New Delhi: Under attack from the opposition on the issue of unaccounted money parked by Indians in tax havens abroad, PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the government had already initiated steps to get back the black money. “Action has already started,” Singh said in the Rajya Sabha during question hour. Singh referred to the FM’s remarks, saying Pranab Mukherjee had “specifically dealt” with the issue. Singh’s remark came after BJP’s Prakash Javadekar sought to know what his government was doing on the black money. Mukherjee on Wednesday told the Upper House that the government, as promised before the elections, was working on getting back black money stashed abroad.

The Times of India, July 31, 2009

‘Fake notes weren’t made in India & had govt safeguards’

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The team investigating the source of the counterfeit notes of Rs 1,000 denomination that were seized in Mumbai late last month believe that the fakes were printed in a “government press’’ belonging to a neighbouring country. Last month, six people were caught supplying fake Rs1,000 denomination notes amounting to about Rs 4 lakh, in Mumbai. This was followed by a series of similar arrests in Hyderabad, Goa and Bangalore.

“The quality of these fake notes is very high. The paper has been imported. The new security features introduced by the Indian government have been copied by the culprits. Producing such high-quality notes requires a government printing press,’’ said a senior police officer.

The case has recently been handed over to the newly formed, National Investigating Agency (NIA).“It is also a form of financial terrorism, which spreads suspicion in the minds of the public about the authenticity of their own country’s currency,’’ said a senior ATS official.

There were only two instances where the notes failed to pass the authenticity test. The culprits could not copy the Microlettering. In the original notes, the letters ‘RBI’ and the numeral, ‘1000’ can be viewed with the help of a magnifying glass in the zone between the Mahatma Gandhi portrait and the vertical band. (see Identifying the real Mccoy). The number of ‘RBI’ words on the vertical band corresponds to the series of the currency. This was not the case with the counterfeit notes. “The fake notes also lacked the colour quality in the printing of the numeral ‘1000’ that is in the middle of the note. They tried using the Optically Variable Ink, but were unable to match it with the original,’’ said a senior police official. The colour of the numeral ‘1000’ is green when the note is held flat, but changes to blue when held at an angle. There was no colour change in the fake notes. In all other features the notes resembled the real McCoy.

“The notes possibly came from Bangladesh via West Bengal , but are yet to confirm this,’’ said an ATS officer.

Times of India, July 2, 2009

False notes gain currency

Cops Busted Two Big Fake Currency Rackets In The Last Seven Days. But, For Every Bust, There May Be Millions Of Forged Notes In Circulation

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Altaf Hussain did not even bother to look at the four Rs-100 notes that he got on Saturday evening from his neighbourhood cigarette seller. The next morning, however, the Nagpada resident realised he should have been more careful. His milkman refused to accept one of the notes. “Yeh note bekar hai, nahin chalega (This note is a fake, no one will accept it),’’ the milkman said.
Hussain is not the only Mumbaikar to have been fooled by forged notes recently. Mumbai Police and state intelligence officials say there has been a sudden spurt in the volume of fake notes in circulation. The “quality of forgery’’ has also improved “remarkably’’ and it is difficult for the untrained eye to tell them from the ones that come out of government mints.

But there is something much more sinister — than you being short-changed — about the current inflow of fake notes. Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria is sure the masterminds are none other than Pakistan-resident don Dawood Ibrahim and his associate, Aftab Batki. “They are running this business from Pakistan. The duo get fake notes printed and smuggle it into India via Bangladesh. The motive is to destabilise our economy,’’ he said.

“What is happening is basically financial terrorism. Fake notes used to be smuggled in mostly by Pakistani nationals earlier but now it is now down more by Bangladeshis,’’ another official said, giving the instance of an Indian minting machine seized in Bangladesh recently.

“But, once the notes are in India, it is Indians who are entrusted with the task of circulating them,’’ he added.

The Crime Branch on June 19 arrested five fruit sellers and seized fake currency, which could have been worth Rs 8 lakh, from them. All the notes were of Rs-500 and Rs-1,000 denomination. The money, investigations revealed, was sent by someone called Jamal Malik from Bangladesh and the local distributor was to get a huge commission (about 40 per cent of Rs 8 lakh).

Bangladesh’s emergence as the origin of much of the counterfeit now in circulation in India has been helped by the lax border in West Bengal, say officials. Some distributors of fake notes in India got one of their carriers to open an account with a private bank at Habra, a small Bengal town close to the border. He was then asked to deposit the money that he got as change while using the fake notes. The carrier got a commission of 20 per cent on what he “earned’’.

“We arrested two persons who came here from Dubai last year. They were given free tickets to India and the fake notes, ‘amounting’ to Rs 19 lakh, were kept in a refrigerator. The masterminds use the real money they get after circulating the fake notes to pay their employees and purchase weapons,’’ Maria said.

The Times of India, June 26, 2008

ATS detains fake note supplier

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: A counterfeit currency supplier was picked up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) in West Bengal and brought to Mumbai for questioning in connection with the encounter deaths of two suspected Bangladeshi nationals last week.

Abdar Ali Mandal (45) was nabbed from Swaroop Nagar Market near Amudiagon in North 24 Parganas, ATS sources said, adding that he had supplied fake currency amounting to Rs 10 lakh to one of the slain suspects, Mohammed Ali, to circulate in the city. Ali had come to deliver the currency and 2 kg RDX to one Babu when both were shot down by the ATS team in Kashimira, Thane district. Both the bodies are still lying unclaimed at JJ Hospital.

“Mandal is also a wanted accused in a 2007 case when the ATS had arrested six Bangladeshi nationals with Rs 11.25 lakh fake Indian currency. During our the investigation of the Kashimira encounter, we came to know that the fake currency being carried by Ali was supplied by Mandal. More arrests will follow,’’ said ATS chief Hemant Karkare.

Mandal has been sent to police custody till April 2. He had visited Mumbai on several occasions in the past and had “close contacts’’ with several people in the city. The ATS is now preparing a list of such people so that they can be questioned .

The police have also seized several incriminating documents from Mandal. It is learnt that Mandal had supplied fake currency to some more people in the western suburbs, who have reportedly fled after the encounter.

Meanwhile, the Kashimira police have discovered Babu’s hideout in Diva. Searches were on to check if he had hidden some more fake currency or firearms over there. Babu was staying in a flat as a paying guest and the police are trying find out as to who had recommended him to the owner of the house. The police said that they have informed their counterparts in Kolkata to collect information on Babu and Mandal’s connections.

KASHIMIRA ENCOUNTER
Abdar Ali Mandal, who was nabbed in West Bengal, had supplied fake currency amounting to Rs 10 lakh to one of the slain suspects, Mohammed Ali, to circulate in Mumbai. Ali had come to deliver the currency and 2 kg RDX to one Babu when both were shot down

The Times of India, March 21, 2008

Fake currency gangs have genuine visas

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: Investigations into fake currency rackets have revealed that every month, halfa-dozen groups of people leave Bangladesh for India on a month’s tourist visa to circulate counterfeit Indian currency.

“To evade suspicion from any quarter, the group usually includes a couple and all pose as members of the same family. These people travel on genuine visas and their other documents are also genuine. As a result, often they cannot be questioned thoroughly,’’ said a police officer from the I-branch unit of the Special Branch department. The prime task of the I-branch is to collect information on Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Afghan nationals.

On September 11. four persons—Annu Shaikh (25), her husband Sahebali Shaikh (32), Gulam Ali (40) and Iqbal Rehman (33)—were arrested on September 11 following which they have been remanded in police custody till September 19.

“Even that group was travelling as a family and had come to India on a tourist visa. When they were caught they said they had come to Mumbai for sight-seeing. However, after a search, we recovered fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 1.29 lakh from them,’’ said senior inspector Prakash Singh Boparai of the Dongri police.

According to the police, earlier, illegal migrants would be given the job of circulating counterfeit notes. However, after their frequent arrests, the gangs changed the modus operandi and began sending Bangladeshis on legal visas. While the I-branch records state that there are somewhere around 100 illegal migrants from Bangladesh in the city, the unofficial figure is in thousands. Instead of picking them up and deporting them to their country, the police take ‘haftas’ from them regularly “for not sending them back’’.

The police said the gang members first circulate fake notes in the market and then deposit the genuine ones in an Indian bank. Later that money is withdrawn through ATM card at the Indo-Bangla boarder. “In the latest case, the four persons arrested were promised a commission of 20 per cent for circulating fake currency. In addition to that, they were also provided with travelling and accommodation expenses by their mentors,’’ said an officer.

The police is now busy matching the notes with other notes seized from several other groups arrested. They suspect that they have already circulated counterfeit notes with a face value of Rs 2 to 3 lakh in the market.

The Times of India, September 17, 2007

4 held with fake currency in Juinagar

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The Dongri police arrested four Bangladeshi nationals including a woman and seized fake Indian currency amounting to Rs 1.28 lakh from them. The accused had come to Maharashtra in August and were staying at Juinagar in Navi Mumbai.

The accused Annu Shaikh (25), her husband Sahebali Shaikh (32), Gulam Ali (40) and Iqbal Rehman (33), have been sent to police custody till September 19.

Police sources said that a new modus operandi has come to light. A group of fake distributors in India opened an account in a specific bank at Habra, a small town on the Indo-Bangaladesh border. The account was opened in the name of a carrier and he was asked to go to any Indian city. However, the account holder was not given possession of his ATM card. It was indeed kept by one of the group’s members at Habra.

“When a carrier reaches an Indian city as instructed by his mentors, he is contacted by their local agents and provided with the fake currency,’’ said a police officer.

The carrier is then given fake notes with a 20% commission. The carrier can spend this money as he wants. Once he succeeds in circulating the fake currency, he deposits the 80% (original notes) in a bank which is later withdrawn using the ATM card by his mentors in Habra. The money is converted into Taka—Bangaladeshi currency, by a money changer and sent to Bangaladesh, the officer added.

While the police have zeroed in on this modus operandi, it is yet to establish the identity of the culprits.

The police also say that this is a unique modus operandi unlike the one used in hawala transactions. In the Dongri police case, the woman, Annu, went to the Dongri market and bought apples for Rs 50 and forwarded a Rs 1,000 note.

Later, she bought a few utensils from another shop for Rs 250 and gave yet another Rs 1,000 note. A few shopkeepers suspected the notes were fake and thus informed the police. Later, she was picked up. “Her husband who was waiting for her at the Sandhurst Road railway station was also arrested and fake notes were recovered from his possession.

The notes are in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. They said they were given the fake notes by a local man in Mumbai who is also wanted in the case,’’ said inspector Prakash Singh Boparai of the Dongri police station.

The Times of India, September 14, 2007