Shocking: Rupee third on fake foreign currency list in Switzerland

New Delhi/Berne: As a debate continues on alleged black money of Indians in Swiss banks, the authorities in Switzerland have come across a significant quantum of fake Indian rupee notes in their country – the third highest for any foreign currency after Euro and the US dollar.

According to the latest counterfeit currency statistics released by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), the number of fake Euro notes seized in the year 2013 stood at 2,394, while there were 1,101 fake US dollar bills.

The number of fake Indian rupee notes found in Switzerland during 2013 stood at 403 – the third highest for any foreign currency. This included 380 fake Rs 500 notes and another 23 counterfeit Rs 1,000 notes.

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However, the numbers have declined considerably since 2012 when Fedpol found as many as 2,624 fake rupee notes – the second highest among foreign currencies after 5,284 counterfeit US dollar notes at that time. The number of fake Euro notes was third highest during that year at 2084.

The number of fake Swiss franc notes stood at 4,309 during 2012, but was higher than any foreign currency in 2013 at 3,729, as per details compiled by the Fedpol’s Counterfeit Currency Unit.

Among other counterfeit foreign currencies found during 2013, there were 99 fake British pound notes, 71 South African rand notes, 34 Deutsche Mark notes (German currency officially in circulation from 1948 till 2002 when Euro was introduced),23 Chinese yuan notes and ten Canadian dollar.

The number of any other fake foreign currency notes was in single-digits.

PTI