Post note ban: Banks, RBI detect fake currency worth `19.54 crore

THE RESERVE Bank of India (RBI) and banks have detected Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) worth Rs 19.54 crore so far in exchange/deposit of scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said. In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Meghwal said a total of 2,46,374 currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 had been detected as fake currency after demonetisation.

Out of the total 2,46,374 currency notes, 1,02,037 currency notes were of Rs 500 denomination, while the number of Rs 1,000 notes were 1,44,337 in number, Meghwal said.

In a separate reply to a question in the lower house of Parliament, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that government agencies have conducted over 1,100 searches and issued 5,100 notices after the demonetisation decision.

The searches and notices have led to seizure of valuables worth over Rs 610 crore, of which Rs 513 crore was detected in cash.

He was responding to a query on the extent to which the government has achieved its objective of the cash ban announced on November 8.

The seized amount includes new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 worth Rs 110 crore.

“The undisclosed income detected in these ongoing investigations till January 10, was more than Rs 5,400 crore,” he said.

In a separate reply, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said relevant information has been shared by the I-T Department with other law enforcement agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation for appropriate action.

“As on November 8, 2016, there were 17,165 million pieces of Rs 500 and 6,858 million pieces of Rs 1,000 in circulation. The value of specified bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 returned to RBI and currency chests amounted to Rs 12.44 lakh crore as of December 10, 2016,” Gangwar said.

The government is taking steps such as collection of requisite information from various sources, conducting investigations in appropriate cases, searches, surveys, assessment of income, levy of penalty and launching of criminal prosecution to curb black money, he said.

In another reply, Jaitley said there has been a rise in deposits made in accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana since November 9, 2016, adding that the 5,100 notices issued to verify suspicious deposits also included such accounts.

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