Fake currency haul again

Rapid Action Battalion seized fake notes worth Tk 25 lakh and arrested two persons, including a woman, at Adabar in the capital on Thursday night, in a fresh drive against money counterfeiting gangs ahead of Eid.

Every year before the festival, such gangs become active as people spend a lot in shopping and fakes notes often change hands undetected.

Maj Maksudul Alam, deputy director of Rab's legal and media wing, told The Daily Star that on information, a Rab-1 team raided Baitul Aman Housing area around 10:00pm and arrested Jamila Akhter Maniza on charges of circulating fake notes.

Based on her information, the crime busters later nabbed Hamidur Rahman, 37, believed to be the ringleader of a money counterfeiting gang, at a nearby flat, and seized fake notes worth Tk 25 lakh there, said the Rab official.

Members of the elite force said equipment, including laptop, laminating machine and security thread, used for printing those notes were also seized.

But two other members of the gang, Alamin alias Kala Babu and Asma Aktar Tuktuki, fled, sensing the presence of the Rab team.

Rab said the arrestees rented the flat after introducing themselves as husband and wife.

At least 15 money counterfeiting gangs were busted along with fake notes worth over 2.5 crore in the last few weeks.

Many of the arrestees confessed that they had been involved in the crime for years.

Bangladesh Bank recently handed over 200 fake currency detecting devices to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Those devices are being used in several key spots where transactions are taking place.

Law enforcers who interrogated those arrested for counterfeiting notes said fake notes are prepared and exchanged in three phases.

One group prepares or collects special papers while another does the printing. The third one circulates them later, they added.

Detective Branch (DB) of police Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam recently said the production cost of fake notes worth Tk 1 lakh ranges between Tk 3,000 and Tk 3,500.

The fraudsters sell the notes to wholesale buyers for Tk 7,000 to Tk 10,000. The wholesalers then sell them to retailers across the country for Tk 15,000 to Tk 25,000.

The retailers circulate the notes when buying goods while some of them circulate the notes through a section of unscrupulous staff of banks and ATM booths, Monirul claimed.