Dealing with currency counterfeiters
Thursday, 30 October 2008
IT was reported in the newspapers that counterfeit currency is entering the market in alarming proportions. According to one report that quoted Bangladesh Bank, the law enforcement agencies have seized fake bank notes worth Tk 5.0 million in the past nine months. Out of this, Tk 0.6 million worth of counterfeit notes were seized in Dhaka.
It is only now that a decision has been taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs to form a committee who will advise different intelligence agencies to go after the counterfeiters.
The general people have been hardest hit by these counterfeit notes. People who take out bundles of Tk 500 from banks were shocked to find a few counterfeit notes among them. After these were identified as fake they were taken to the particular bank but the bank refused to entertain the complaint and pay back the customer. In other words, if banks pass on a few notes like that (intentionally or otherwise) to their customers, to whom should the latter go for remedy?
The Bangladesh Bank authorities who have been clamouring for swift action against these criminals say that this evil practice is extensive in the border areas. They have also asked all the banks to get updated with the latest technology to intercept counterfeit bank notes. They have also issued warning against bank employees involved in the crime of currency counterfeiting.
However, what has always worried me is what the law can do and what it is doing. It was reported somewhere that up to August there were about 3,500 cases in the courts regarding counterfeit money. In many instances, the wrongdoers caught red-handed with the fake notes somehow managed to get out of jail on bail though the law says otherwise. On the other hand, any innocent civilian carrying the fake currency without his or her knowing can be arrested and sent to jail.
If the government means business, it has to take positive and pragmatic steps so that the counterfeiters and their cohorts (who could be just about anywhere) do not escape punishment and at the same time they must ensure that an innocent person having no idea about the act of counterfeiting is not harassed.
Mozammel Haq
North Circular Road
Dhanmondi
Dhaka.
It is only now that a decision has been taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs to form a committee who will advise different intelligence agencies to go after the counterfeiters.
The general people have been hardest hit by these counterfeit notes. People who take out bundles of Tk 500 from banks were shocked to find a few counterfeit notes among them. After these were identified as fake they were taken to the particular bank but the bank refused to entertain the complaint and pay back the customer. In other words, if banks pass on a few notes like that (intentionally or otherwise) to their customers, to whom should the latter go for remedy?
The Bangladesh Bank authorities who have been clamouring for swift action against these criminals say that this evil practice is extensive in the border areas. They have also asked all the banks to get updated with the latest technology to intercept counterfeit bank notes. They have also issued warning against bank employees involved in the crime of currency counterfeiting.
However, what has always worried me is what the law can do and what it is doing. It was reported somewhere that up to August there were about 3,500 cases in the courts regarding counterfeit money. In many instances, the wrongdoers caught red-handed with the fake notes somehow managed to get out of jail on bail though the law says otherwise. On the other hand, any innocent civilian carrying the fake currency without his or her knowing can be arrested and sent to jail.
If the government means business, it has to take positive and pragmatic steps so that the counterfeiters and their cohorts (who could be just about anywhere) do not escape punishment and at the same time they must ensure that an innocent person having no idea about the act of counterfeiting is not harassed.
Mozammel Haq
North Circular Road
Dhanmondi
Dhaka.