Man sets up fake currency printing press after watching YouTube, arrested with notes worth Rs. 2 lakh
Navi Mumbai, May 18, 2024: The Central Unit of the Crime Branch of the Navi Mumbai police arrested a man named Praful Govind Patil, 26, on charges of printing and selling fake currency notes.
According to reports, Patil learned how to print fake currency by watching how-to videos on YouTube.
The police recovered 1443 fake notes worth Rs 2 lakhs from Patil’s home in Taloja. According to the police, Patil had already put more than Rs 1 lakh into circulation in the last six weeks.
Patil, who studied only till ninth grade, was having trouble with money and was living away from his family. He got the supplies he needed and started making fake money at home after watching a video on YouTube that showed him how to do it.
A tip was sent to the Central Unit of the Crime Branch about a man in Taloja who was carrying fake money. A team led by Senior Inspector Sunil Shinde and Inspector Harshal Kadam set a trap on Wednesday night.
Within the Taloja MIDC area, where they caught Patil, they discovered some fake money notes on him. After that, his house was searched and found to have a setup for printing fake money and more fake notes.
There were 1443 fake notes worth Rs 2 lakhs that the police found. There were 574 fake Rs 50 notes, 33 fake Rs 100 notes, and 856 fake Rs 200 notes. Praful is in the ninth grade and lives away from his family. To get by during the financial crisis, he learned how to make fake money on YouTube. After that, he got things like cotton paper, a printer, a scanner, and green plastic strips to put on the notes to make them look real. “This is how he started making fake Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 notes,” a senior Crime Branch police officer said.
He has been giving out fake notes worth more than Rs 1 lakh for the past 15 months. Some people became suspicious about the notes and told the police, which led to his arrest. At the Taloja police station, a case has been opened against Praful Patil, and more investigations are still going on.