18 December,2011 07:59 AM IST | | Shrikant Khuperkar
Bank lodged an FIR after it detected Rs 1,38,200 in fake currency notes during a routine check
On December 16, the Manpada police station registered a case of a bank receiving fake currency notes by an unknown depositor.
ICICI Bank, Dombivli Branch lodged a complaint after it detected Rs 1,38,200 in fake currency that was deposited to the bank. A bank manager at ICICI-MIDC branch in Dombivli confirmed the news, on the condition of anonymity. "We have received fake notes earlier also but not such a big amount," he said.
When contacted, Kalpesh Kunt, in charge of ICMC, the collection centre for banks in the MIDC area, said he would get in touch with us later since he was out of the area.
ICICI officials examine the currency deposited in the bank by the public at Currency Chest of ICICI, which is located in the basement of the MIDC branch, for forged or damaged notes. The bank authorities do not know yet which account received the fake currency because the notes were discovered during an inspection of all the cash brought in from ICICI's city branches.
Officials immediately lodged an FIR with the Manpada Police station.
P Bhalerao, assistant police inspector on duty from Manpada Police, said, "The case is being investigated. We have registered the case under sections 489 (a) (b) and 420 of Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery. We will have to probe every account holder's cash deposits to get a lead."
Preliminary submissions made by the bank to police reveal that the fake notes were in denominations of Rs 1,000 (54 notes), Rs 500 (165 notes), Rs 100 (14 notes) and Rs 50 (14 notes).
According to the ICICI bank spokesperson, "Genuine notes are only put into circulation by us after processing is done in high-end note sorting machines in line with the RBI's note-sorting policy. Forged notes detected by these machines are again checked manually by highly experienced bank staff and reported to the RBI and National Crime Records Bureau. Post that, the bank lodges a FIR with the local police. The same process has been followed by the bank while lodging the FIR. This has been done in compliance with the RBI guidelines with regard to identification and reporting of such currencies."
