It is rightly said, that the poor of the world, cannot be made richer by redistribution of wealth. But, there are some, who seek a short cut, to riches through crime and use of counterfeit currency. Criminals believe that whatever is worth doing is worth doing for the money. Nevertheless, the truth is that the wealth is the product of industry, ambition, character and untiring effort.
There are problems we as a nation have learnt to live with: money laundering, black money, counterfeit currency, narcotics and terrorism. All of them are inter-linked and their sources are well known. Yet we have not been dealing with them effectively.
We react, or rather over-react, whenever there is a major terror strike or drug/fake currency seizure, and then soon forget it instead of making serious efforts to root out the problem. Frequent seizures of counterfeit currency have ceased to stir the national conscience. Newspapers try to shake the powers-that-be by repeating the Naik Committee’s startling revelation made a few years ago that counterfeit currency amounting to about Rs. 1,69,000 crore was circulating in the country till the year 2000. The figure has not been updated since then.
The menace of finely printed currency has achieved new heights, that quite often, the customers do get fake currencies through ATMs. The worst is that when they approach banks with the complain of receiving a fake note, bank official impound the notes. As per the law of land, the bank should lodge an FIR with police, which would investigate the source of the fake currency. Banks obviously have not been to cope with the problem.
Two men allegedly involved in smuggling of counterfeit currency notes into the country from Nepal were arrested in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. Pramod Singh and Babadeen, both in their mid 20s, have confessed that they collected the consignment of fake currency notes — supplied from Pakistan — in Nepal.
Their main role involved selling of the counterfeit notes to their clients in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is fast becoming a hub for counterfeit currency smuggled purportedly across the porous and largely unguarded border with Nepal.
In August 2008, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) team unearthed counterfeit currency amounting to over Rs.5 million from the currency chest of State Bank of India’s Domariaganj branch in Siddharthnagar district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This followed the arrest of the bank’s chief cashier and recovery of a large amount of both genuine and fake currency from his house.
Victim of Economic Terrorism
India has become the victim of another kind of terrorism from its neighbour, Pakistan. It is economic terrorism in printing and circulating counterfeit Indian notes. The Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) role in printing and circulation of fake Indian currency notes has never been a secret. It is estimated that around 1,69,000 crores of fake rupees are in circulation all over India. Both Banks and Government are in a denial mode, because probably they do not know what to do.
On its insistence, Pakistan Government has imported additional currency-standard printing paper from companies located in London to pursue its nefarious designs in India. Of late, Pakistan has been procuring currency-standard printing paper in huge quantities from London-based companies much higher than normal requirement of the country for printing its own currency. It is diverting it, to print fake Indian currency notes. It is believed that Pakistan Government printing press in Quetta (Balochistan) Karachi’s security press, and two other presses in Lahore and Peshawar, are being used to print out counterfeit Indian currency.
The ISI has, been using Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to transport counterfeit currency to its conduits in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The modus operandi of the ISI was revealed by two Nepali counterfeit currency traffickers who were arrested by Thailand police sometimes back. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were working for a prominent Nepali businessman. The fact that Nepali territory is being used by Pakistanis to smuggle counterfeit currency is well known. The first such expose was made when Pakistani diplomats were caught distributing fake Indian currency notes. One Naushad Alam Khan, arrested in Dhaka with fake Indian currency notes worth Rs 50 lakh admitted his direct link with HuJI (Bangladesh) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan. It was found that both Khan and Hannan had fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Fake Indian currency notes racket is being carried out by using the network of underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, not only in India but also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in close association with different terror outfits, according to one intelligence report. With Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh being active partners, with India in probing Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) related cases, it is safe to assume that so far as the fake currency in India is concerned, its source is Pakistan.
Investigations into the Mumbai 26/11 attacks have revealed that a large part of the money to fund the terror operation were obtained through fake currency rackets and hawala channels. It is also believed that Pakistan’s ISI raises Rs. 1,800 crore (Rs.18 billion) annually to fund terror operations and that a major chunk of this amount comes in through fake currency rackets.
Approximately Rs 30 lakh of the Rs 50 lakh spent, on the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, was obtained through the fake currency racket. This is big menace, which should be tackled with no holds barred, even if it means walking with the devil till we have decimated this problem.
HurtingEconomyEconomic terrorism, in the form of fake currency flooding the market, is fast becoming an unavoidable part of our daily lives even as we try hard to weed out any counterfeit notes from our wallets. It is common sight today that people peer hard at every 1,000-rupee or 500-rupee note to check for those tell-tale signs but the menace of fake notes continues unabated. It is present everywhere, right from the piggy bank at our homes to the bank ATMs. According to the RBI estimates, the number of forged notes detected by the banking system was 1,95,811 against 4,422.5 crore notes in circulation. Though the apex bank has been proclaiming that the number of fake notes in India is a mere three to six pieces per million, which is one of the lowest in the world, the fact remains that the counterfeit currency has wider circulation and deeper ramifications on the economy of the nation.
Fake Currency Detecting Machine
There is a machine to detect counterfeit currency. But it is not available in the market. While scientists at the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) not only developed an Automatic Counterfeit Currency Detector (ACCD) and secured international patents, for yet unknown reasons nobody has come forward to manufacture and market it commercially.
There are people interested in buying the device or selling it but not for manufacturing them. However, the CSIO scientists claimed that no such machine is being manufactured in India.
Banks have, however, installed “note sorting machines” that detect the genuineness of a currency note on the basis of the paper’s characteristics and response to ultraviolet light exposure. However, unlike the ACCD, they are not currency or country specific and do not take into account security features.
Banks have also issued locally made ultra violet lamps to their branches where a suspected note is manually placed for detection. Bankers say that an experienced cashier can detect a counterfeit by its “feel and texture” while counting. The RBI tested the device developed by the CSIO in 2008. The results were said to be satisfactory but RBI officials wanted CSIO to make certain modifications. While the earlier machine would stop whenever it detected a counterfeit currency note, RBI wanted scientists to develop a machine that would throw out the counterfeit currency but continue to do the counting.
There are imported machines available in the market though, costing about Rs. 50,000 but they can cater to just one manually fed note at a time. The ACCD,the prototype version of which cost about as much, has six sensors and a counting speed of 600-1000 notes per minute. Earlier, the CSIO had developed a small device to check the genuineness of a single note at a time. It was patented but its transfer of technology to the industry was not pursued and the concepts developed were applied for the ACCD project.
Role of RBI
The RBI has tried to allay growing public fears over fake currency by stating that only four notes out of 10 lakh are fake. While the number may not be too large to trigger a nation-wide panic, it is still a cause for consternation. That the RBI itself is perturbed by the menace of fake currency is evident from the fact that only a few days ago it had issued an appeal to banks warning them of counterfeit currency notes of Rs 1000 denomination in circulation.
India has been trying to fight the sinister design of those who are trying to weaken the nation through “economic terrorism”. Time and again it has been exposed how fake currency is used to not only destabilise the nation but also to fund terror. The CBI’s revelation that the “secret template” used to print currency notes has been compromised proves that the rot runs deep. The Anti-Terrorist Squad recently seized a cache of fake notes in Mumbai. Several other rackets have been busted. The Gujarat ATS has even claimed a breakthrough. But the smuggling of fake currency into the Indian economy continues unabated.
The RBI has taken several steps like double scrutiny of notes put in the ATMs and setting up of Forged Note Vigilance Cells. According to the RBI’s annual report, the detection of counterfeit banknotes has shown a rising trend. However, much more needs to be done. Note sorting machines proposed to be set up in a phased manner at the 70,000 bank branches must be installed with greater urgency. While the move not to file an FIR against ordinary persons found in possession of a maximum of five fake currency notes is appreciable, those involved in rackets must not be shown any leniency.
What should be done?
The RBI needs to first accept the problem. Only then will they be able to solve it. The RBI obviously gets to know when an entire series of currency notes has been faked. It is difficult to understand why they continue with the series despite it being faked. The RBI should immediately withdraw the series once such things happen. That solves the problem to a great extent.
What we have been noticing is that once a customer reports fake currency, the bank immediately destroys the note and there ends the matter. First, the banks ought to file a police complaint. Banks should introduce testing machines at ATMs so that the customer can immediately report the problem.
They should stop torturing the person who reports the crime. All police units of the respective states ought to follow the Bengaluru module where there are separate units for law and order and crime. The crime wing of the police should handle this matter.
It is noticeable that why we cannot manufacture ink and paper to make currency. It is still being imported and this gives criminals an edge. If we manufacture our own ink and paper, then we will be in control of the situation and can enhance our security features. Besides, it is time the government accepted that we face a serious problem. The law must be changed to protect those who complain about the problem. Agencies should get out of denial mode.
Remedial Measures
It is very surprising that despite the best efforts of investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is creating a data bank of fake currency, the point from where the fake notes are infused into the economy remains undetected. There are indications that, at some points, the bank officials in remote towns are hands in glove with the counterfeiters, but there has not been much breakthrough in this area. In fact, with the rise in the number of physical notes in circulation, the number of cases of fake notes detection also has gone up. Does it indicate that along with the national mint, the anti-national mint is also working over time? As of now not many remedial measures are in sight but experts do recommend usage of cards and electronic payment to suppress the menace of fake notes but most people are quite wary of using these options for fear of leaving their personal details in the hands of cyber criminals. Now the best option for the apex bank, experts add, is that banks should go for better technology for currency operations, improve security system for storage of cash in banks and install note sorting machines at the bank counters for early detection of counterfeit notes.Laws are not stringent enough. Telgi got away with just seven years’ jail for the Rs 50,000 crore stamp paper scam. After 9/11, the US paid as much attention to internal security as to wiping out sources of terror funding. The destablising role of economic terrorism needs to be better understood and countered in the country.
There are problems we as a nation have learnt to live with: money laundering, black money, counterfeit currency, narcotics and terrorism. All of them are inter-linked and their sources are well known. Yet we have not been dealing with them effectively.
We react, or rather over-react, whenever there is a major terror strike or drug/fake currency seizure, and then soon forget it instead of making serious efforts to root out the problem. Frequent seizures of counterfeit currency have ceased to stir the national conscience. Newspapers try to shake the powers-that-be by repeating the Naik Committee’s startling revelation made a few years ago that counterfeit currency amounting to about Rs. 1,69,000 crore was circulating in the country till the year 2000. The figure has not been updated since then.
The menace of finely printed currency has achieved new heights, that quite often, the customers do get fake currencies through ATMs. The worst is that when they approach banks with the complain of receiving a fake note, bank official impound the notes. As per the law of land, the bank should lodge an FIR with police, which would investigate the source of the fake currency. Banks obviously have not been to cope with the problem.
Two men allegedly involved in smuggling of counterfeit currency notes into the country from Nepal were arrested in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. Pramod Singh and Babadeen, both in their mid 20s, have confessed that they collected the consignment of fake currency notes — supplied from Pakistan — in Nepal.
Their main role involved selling of the counterfeit notes to their clients in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is fast becoming a hub for counterfeit currency smuggled purportedly across the porous and largely unguarded border with Nepal.
In August 2008, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) team unearthed counterfeit currency amounting to over Rs.5 million from the currency chest of State Bank of India’s Domariaganj branch in Siddharthnagar district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. This followed the arrest of the bank’s chief cashier and recovery of a large amount of both genuine and fake currency from his house.
Victim of Economic Terrorism
India has become the victim of another kind of terrorism from its neighbour, Pakistan. It is economic terrorism in printing and circulating counterfeit Indian notes. The Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) role in printing and circulation of fake Indian currency notes has never been a secret. It is estimated that around 1,69,000 crores of fake rupees are in circulation all over India. Both Banks and Government are in a denial mode, because probably they do not know what to do.
On its insistence, Pakistan Government has imported additional currency-standard printing paper from companies located in London to pursue its nefarious designs in India. Of late, Pakistan has been procuring currency-standard printing paper in huge quantities from London-based companies much higher than normal requirement of the country for printing its own currency. It is diverting it, to print fake Indian currency notes. It is believed that Pakistan Government printing press in Quetta (Balochistan) Karachi’s security press, and two other presses in Lahore and Peshawar, are being used to print out counterfeit Indian currency.
The ISI has, been using Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to transport counterfeit currency to its conduits in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The modus operandi of the ISI was revealed by two Nepali counterfeit currency traffickers who were arrested by Thailand police sometimes back. During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were working for a prominent Nepali businessman. The fact that Nepali territory is being used by Pakistanis to smuggle counterfeit currency is well known. The first such expose was made when Pakistani diplomats were caught distributing fake Indian currency notes. One Naushad Alam Khan, arrested in Dhaka with fake Indian currency notes worth Rs 50 lakh admitted his direct link with HuJI (Bangladesh) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan. It was found that both Khan and Hannan had fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Fake Indian currency notes racket is being carried out by using the network of underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, not only in India but also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal in close association with different terror outfits, according to one intelligence report. With Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh being active partners, with India in probing Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) related cases, it is safe to assume that so far as the fake currency in India is concerned, its source is Pakistan.
Investigations into the Mumbai 26/11 attacks have revealed that a large part of the money to fund the terror operation were obtained through fake currency rackets and hawala channels. It is also believed that Pakistan’s ISI raises Rs. 1,800 crore (Rs.18 billion) annually to fund terror operations and that a major chunk of this amount comes in through fake currency rackets.
Approximately Rs 30 lakh of the Rs 50 lakh spent, on the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, was obtained through the fake currency racket. This is big menace, which should be tackled with no holds barred, even if it means walking with the devil till we have decimated this problem.
HurtingEconomyEconomic terrorism, in the form of fake currency flooding the market, is fast becoming an unavoidable part of our daily lives even as we try hard to weed out any counterfeit notes from our wallets. It is common sight today that people peer hard at every 1,000-rupee or 500-rupee note to check for those tell-tale signs but the menace of fake notes continues unabated. It is present everywhere, right from the piggy bank at our homes to the bank ATMs. According to the RBI estimates, the number of forged notes detected by the banking system was 1,95,811 against 4,422.5 crore notes in circulation. Though the apex bank has been proclaiming that the number of fake notes in India is a mere three to six pieces per million, which is one of the lowest in the world, the fact remains that the counterfeit currency has wider circulation and deeper ramifications on the economy of the nation.
Fake Currency Detecting Machine
There is a machine to detect counterfeit currency. But it is not available in the market. While scientists at the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) not only developed an Automatic Counterfeit Currency Detector (ACCD) and secured international patents, for yet unknown reasons nobody has come forward to manufacture and market it commercially.
There are people interested in buying the device or selling it but not for manufacturing them. However, the CSIO scientists claimed that no such machine is being manufactured in India.
Banks have, however, installed “note sorting machines” that detect the genuineness of a currency note on the basis of the paper’s characteristics and response to ultraviolet light exposure. However, unlike the ACCD, they are not currency or country specific and do not take into account security features.
Banks have also issued locally made ultra violet lamps to their branches where a suspected note is manually placed for detection. Bankers say that an experienced cashier can detect a counterfeit by its “feel and texture” while counting. The RBI tested the device developed by the CSIO in 2008. The results were said to be satisfactory but RBI officials wanted CSIO to make certain modifications. While the earlier machine would stop whenever it detected a counterfeit currency note, RBI wanted scientists to develop a machine that would throw out the counterfeit currency but continue to do the counting.
There are imported machines available in the market though, costing about Rs. 50,000 but they can cater to just one manually fed note at a time. The ACCD,the prototype version of which cost about as much, has six sensors and a counting speed of 600-1000 notes per minute. Earlier, the CSIO had developed a small device to check the genuineness of a single note at a time. It was patented but its transfer of technology to the industry was not pursued and the concepts developed were applied for the ACCD project.
Role of RBI
The RBI has tried to allay growing public fears over fake currency by stating that only four notes out of 10 lakh are fake. While the number may not be too large to trigger a nation-wide panic, it is still a cause for consternation. That the RBI itself is perturbed by the menace of fake currency is evident from the fact that only a few days ago it had issued an appeal to banks warning them of counterfeit currency notes of Rs 1000 denomination in circulation.
India has been trying to fight the sinister design of those who are trying to weaken the nation through “economic terrorism”. Time and again it has been exposed how fake currency is used to not only destabilise the nation but also to fund terror. The CBI’s revelation that the “secret template” used to print currency notes has been compromised proves that the rot runs deep. The Anti-Terrorist Squad recently seized a cache of fake notes in Mumbai. Several other rackets have been busted. The Gujarat ATS has even claimed a breakthrough. But the smuggling of fake currency into the Indian economy continues unabated.
The RBI has taken several steps like double scrutiny of notes put in the ATMs and setting up of Forged Note Vigilance Cells. According to the RBI’s annual report, the detection of counterfeit banknotes has shown a rising trend. However, much more needs to be done. Note sorting machines proposed to be set up in a phased manner at the 70,000 bank branches must be installed with greater urgency. While the move not to file an FIR against ordinary persons found in possession of a maximum of five fake currency notes is appreciable, those involved in rackets must not be shown any leniency.
What should be done?
The RBI needs to first accept the problem. Only then will they be able to solve it. The RBI obviously gets to know when an entire series of currency notes has been faked. It is difficult to understand why they continue with the series despite it being faked. The RBI should immediately withdraw the series once such things happen. That solves the problem to a great extent.
What we have been noticing is that once a customer reports fake currency, the bank immediately destroys the note and there ends the matter. First, the banks ought to file a police complaint. Banks should introduce testing machines at ATMs so that the customer can immediately report the problem.
They should stop torturing the person who reports the crime. All police units of the respective states ought to follow the Bengaluru module where there are separate units for law and order and crime. The crime wing of the police should handle this matter.
It is noticeable that why we cannot manufacture ink and paper to make currency. It is still being imported and this gives criminals an edge. If we manufacture our own ink and paper, then we will be in control of the situation and can enhance our security features. Besides, it is time the government accepted that we face a serious problem. The law must be changed to protect those who complain about the problem. Agencies should get out of denial mode.
Remedial Measures
It is very surprising that despite the best efforts of investigating agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is creating a data bank of fake currency, the point from where the fake notes are infused into the economy remains undetected. There are indications that, at some points, the bank officials in remote towns are hands in glove with the counterfeiters, but there has not been much breakthrough in this area. In fact, with the rise in the number of physical notes in circulation, the number of cases of fake notes detection also has gone up. Does it indicate that along with the national mint, the anti-national mint is also working over time? As of now not many remedial measures are in sight but experts do recommend usage of cards and electronic payment to suppress the menace of fake notes but most people are quite wary of using these options for fear of leaving their personal details in the hands of cyber criminals. Now the best option for the apex bank, experts add, is that banks should go for better technology for currency operations, improve security system for storage of cash in banks and install note sorting machines at the bank counters for early detection of counterfeit notes.Laws are not stringent enough. Telgi got away with just seven years’ jail for the Rs 50,000 crore stamp paper scam. After 9/11, the US paid as much attention to internal security as to wiping out sources of terror funding. The destablising role of economic terrorism needs to be better understood and countered in the country.
3 comments:
In case Bankers wish to ensure that Fake Indian Currency Notes are not being handled at their counters or ATM, the Banks should sincerely deliberate on and give due consideration for deploying effective and 100 % accurate Automatic Desk Top Fake Currency Notes Detector instate of Desk Top Note Sorters which have been not compatible at Bank branches for having other than Detection functions as basic functions and detection of fake not being secondary and inaccurate.
There have been no accurate Desk Top Sorters available on the globs which can been fitted inbuilt on the ATMs for Back office uses of filling and refilling notes for maintaining stock of notes in the ATM machine for ensuring continuity of withdrawal service to the public without issuing Fake Indian Currency Notes.
Most of the Banks have hired private agencies for refilling genuine notes to ensure no fake note being issued from ATM. The reasons of issuance of fake notes from the ATM probably could be the involvement of human elements either from within the Banks or from the outside agencies.
The investment in such 100 % accurate Automatic Desk Top Fake Currency Notes Detector can be recovered in terms of avoiding losses and hassles of much complicated legal formalities involving large number of legal agencies as also for avoiding situations of loosing goodwill in the eyes of general public at large on account of Fake Indian Currency Notes being handle erroneously or by human dishonesty at different level.
Paradigm EXC 6700 –I, have emerged as 100% Accurate Automatic Desk Top Fake Currency Notes Detector. Bankers should invariably refer to www.paradigmcashsystems.com and they sure will get much awaited solutions for serving nation by detecting fake notes that are likely to be handled intentionally or un intentionally by involved human elements.
This is to make a point that there have been no accurate Desk Top Sorters available on the glob which can be fitted inbuilt into the ATM machine from the Back side to automatically prevent refilling of Fake Indian Currency Notes in the ATMs without interference and indulgence of Bank staff. On the contrary most of the Banks have hired private agencies for refilling only genuine notes. The reasons of issuance of fake notes from the ATM probably could be the involvement of human elements whether from within the Banks or from the outside agencies.
In deed Indian Banks should deploy Desk Top Detector instate Desk Top Sorter for removing fake notes for refilling notes in the ATM
In real sense ATM in our country mean "Any Time Money" and not "Automatic Teller Machine" - A Bank Branch without human being that accepts the cash Deposits and issue immediate credit to the depositor who in next movement can withdraw immediately credited amount in case of emergency. These kinds of machines are installed in highly advanced countries only.
"Automatic Teller Machine" in the advanced countries have been equipped with Currency Validator/Acceptor/ Detector rather than sorters and fitted on front face of true ATMs which return/roll back Fake/ invalid notes immediately to the depositor and accept only valid/genuine notes giving credit of valid notes only.
" Automatic Teller Machines" are also equipped with automatic Validator/ Acceptor/Detector on the Back Side of ATM for Back side office only open able by Bank staff from behind for refilling only Genuine Notes. It works in same fashions without interference of human elements to that of fixed on the front with some differences in mechanical structures facilitating refilling without element of human interference.
Any Time Money is the Indian version of ATM just can function as Cash Dispenser and not Cash Acceptor. The public are made to Deposit sealed envelop of Money and detailed Deposit Slip in the slot as that of post Box where posts are dropped in envelops. The depositor will get credit only on the next day after manual verification by cashiers of the Bank and their satisfaction about the amount mentioned in the deposit slip. The machines are highly human interfered.
Similarly ATM centers while refilling notes practically need off line accurate fake note detector which can segregate fake notes most accurately so that only genuine notes are refilled manually by removing machine detected fake notes.
We feel RBI's deliberation on suggesting bankers the use of "sorting machines" needs further attention to looking for “Genuine & Accurate fake note detectors" which work on data cum image based technology. Sorting machines are working just on image base technology which is limitedly compatible and useful just for fitness/quality sorting of notes and are too poor to detect super fake notes. Sorter just throws out large number of doubtful notes with comparatively large number of false alarms and carries very high possibility of passing super fake notes as genuine resulting into issuance of such notes at cash counters or at ATM centers.
The kind of machines Indian Banks at cash counters needed are the machine which can verify not only the images but also can check the chemical and physical properties of papers, inks, resins and other materials used in production of note. The machine should be capable of not allowing any fake note to pass as genuine. It is possible only with the detectors specially developed considering the large number of intricacies concerning to Indian notes. A multi currency super fake note detector/ Currency verification & processing Systems is recently launched by an Indian company having web address www.paradigmcashsystems.com It is suggested therefore that all the concerned authorities form RBI, Government of India, Banks investigative agencies etc should invariably go through the crucial informations provided in the web site. It could help in curtailing the menace of fake notes prevalent in our country.
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