Bank men slip fake notes into bundles?
Star Report
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has recently asked all banks to take necessary measures against circulation of forged bank notes following growing allegations that bundles released even by commercial banks contain counterfeit money.A recent letter from the central bank said organised groups of forgers in collusion with some bank officials have slipped counterfeits into wads before handing them out to bank clients, adding that such incidents of forgery reported to the Bangladesh Bank are on the rise. Earlier, the central bank had dismissed allegations by two private commercial banks (PCBs) that the supplies of money bundles they received from the BB contained fake notes. But the BB later retracted from its position and asked all banks in a letter to check for counterfeits when receiving bundles from the central bank. Cash transactions involving 500 and 100 taka notes have become extremely risky as hundreds of fake notes have been injected into the market. To the naked eye, counterfeit notes are virtually indistinguishable from the real ones due to high quality printing and paper. Sources having links with the underworld of forgery say some organised groups are selling each bundle of one lakh fake notes for Tk 40,000. BB officials earlier admitted that forged notes of 500 and 100 taka denominations, particularly those with the portrait of Bangabandhu, have been circulated in the market at an alarming rate. The practice of mixing counterfeit notes with authentic ones by people bundling money at banks goes undetected. The advances in copier and computer technologies have made it possible to make virtually flawless imitation of the design and security features of real notes. Even the water print and holographic thread in these notes are similar to those in the genuine ones. Bankers say this has become a serious problem, as it is not possible to individually inspect the huge number of notes involved in big transactions and because money-counting machines cannot tell the difference. A few months ago, Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman also voiced his dissatisfaction over the alarming increase in forgery of bank notes and asked the central bank to take necessary steps to prevent fake notes from getting into circulation. The central bank has asked the commercial banks to procure money-sorting machine as early as possible.
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