Major fake cash gang busted in Dhaka

RAB has busted a gang of counterfeiters who have been circulating forged banknotes in the local market for years. Five of the gang's members were arrested with counterfeit bank notes of various denominations worth more than Tk1 crore in Dhaka. Sophisticated printing machines and material used to forge banknotes were also seized in raids starting on Wednesday night and lasting until Thursday morning in Jurain and Banasree areas, RAB said. RAB says the gang had already circulated Tk1 crore fake currency and had planned to inject currencies worth Tk2 crore in the market. Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Akramul Hasan, who led the raids, said the gang is active in Banasaree, Jatrabari and Jurain. The revelation comes days before Bangladesh prepares to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha. Counterfeit gangs are more active during big festivals. RAB-1 arrested two of the counterfeiters – Fatema Beguma and Rubina Begum – from Banasree and raided Jurain to nab the others. Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud, RAB-1 commanding officer, told the Dhaka Tribune described one of the arrestees, former Agrani Bank official Abdur Rashid, as a prominent counterfeiter. The others are Md Dulal and Md Sarwar Hossain. Rubina and Fatema are married to the same man, Abdur Rahim, a high profile counterfeiter, the RAB officer added. Rahim and his wives were arrested before. His wives got out on bail but he is still in jail.From bank desk to counterfeitingRashid joined the Agrani Bank as a clerk and rose to the rank of a junior officer two decades ago. “He was sacked in 1996 and jailed for two years for misappropriating money,” RAB officer Tuhin said. In jail, Rashid met Nuruzzaman, a high-profile counterfeiter. After serving his sentence, Rashid set up a printing press at Katabon in Dhaka. Nuruzzaman was a regular customer there, getting forged documents. It was only after 2000 that Rashid fully got involved in the “counterfeiting currency business” after he suffered a major financial setback, Lt Col Tuhin said. Rashid was once arrested in the past but later got out on bail. RAB did not elaborate how the gang came to be or who its leader was. “They are in this business for a long time,” he added.'Paper imported from India'An average consumer can easily be tricked by the fake banknotes produced by the gang, RAB officer Tuhin said. “These are very high quality, almost perfect copies,” he said. It is nearly impossible to tell the difference just by looking at it. The forged banknotes contain the watermark and long thread found in bills. “The paper for printing the bills were imported from India,” Lt Col Tuhin said. “Only the colour is not permanent in these bills. If you rub the notes with wet fingers or keep them in pocket for long, the colour will come off due to sweat.”