US to assist India to curb fake currency circulation

NEW DELHI: The United States has agreed to help India impose sanctions against companies which manufacture and supply paper, ink and thread for printing fake Indian currency notes ( FICN). '
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India suspects that there is a rogue supplier giving material to Pakistan where the same is used for printing fake Indian currency on Pakistan's state printing machines.

India also suspects certain suppliers of having leaked Indian currency security marks and distinguishing features to agencies in Pakistan for effective replication, resulting in high-quality FICN being printed in Pakistan.

The home ministry held a high-level meeting with officials of the finance ministry on Thursday following the assurance given during the recent Indo-US Homeland Security dialogue in Washington. Based on features of high-quality FICN seizures in India, since 2005, India has identified parameters of the paper, ink and thread used in the notes.
"There are not more than a dozen companies that supply high-security paper and ink to various governments for printing their respective currency...the US has agreed to help us in identifying the particular supplier behind material used for fake Indian currency notes. India will then try to impose sanctions on them with the help of US. The US has a huge databank on features of fake dollar notes and details of suppliers behind them," a senior home ministry official told ET.

The company which supplies to India high-security paper, ink and thread would be asked if there has been a leak of material in violation of the confidentiality agreement with India.

An Indo-US crackdown on the counterfeit currency racket will put the suppliers out of business as India and US have the biggest volumes of currency in the whole world. The rupee and the dollar constitute over half the total currency in circulation globally.

India had earlier handed over a dossier to Pakistan identifying four persons, including Dawood Ibrahim and an ISI officer named Major Tayeeb, allegedly pumping fake currency into India at the behest of the Pakistan government.

India also chronicled specific cases where seizures of fake currency have been traced back to state elements in the Pakistan government.