Ahmedabad Police Bust Counterfeit Australian Dollar Racket: Four Arrested in Major Currency Scam
In a major breakthrough, the Special Operations Group of Ahmedabad Police has busted a counterfeit Australian dollar printing racket. The four persons involved in the operation have been arrested in a major currency scam. The arrest has been made following a tip-off about the circulation of fake currency in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area.
The operation was headed by Ronak Rathod, 24 years old, and a laborer who was arrested when trying to change some fake Australian $50 notes. While being interrogated, Rathod revealed that he had been given the fake notes by another member of the gang, Khush Patel. He was also 24 years old. He took investigators to the alleged mastermind, Maulik Patel, a 36-year-old transport business owner.
The SOG investigation found that Maulik Patel was in league with Dhruv Desai, a 20-year-old student, to print counterfeit Australian dollars at a warehouse in Vatva, a locality in Ahmedabad. The police recovered 32 finished fake $50 notes, along with 18 partially printed counterfeit sheets. Investigators also seized high-end printing equipment, including a ₹9,00,000 worth printing machine, laptops, a desktop, and mobile phones worth ₹2,10,000, bringing the total value of the seized items to approximately ₹11,92,500.
Further investigation showed that the gang used special plastic sheets and materials to print the fake currency. The counterfeit notes were very close to the original Australian dollars, with some of the genuine currency thought to have been used as templates.
This bust is part of a bigger crackdown on counterfeit currency in Gujarat as police continue to investigate similar scams. Last month, three people were arrested for duping a bullion trader out of ₹1.6 crore by selling imitation ₹500 notes. These had the picture of Bollywood actor Anupam Kher instead of Mahatma Gandhi and formed part of another counterfeit operation.
The Special Operations Group of the Ahmedabad Police has been targeting counterfeit currency operations in the state. With increasing sophistication of printing operations, authorities are trying to ensure that these rackets are busted before they can cause more damage.