Counterfeit note printer, paper seized in Kollam; suspected money laundering link under probe

KOLLAM: Police suspect that Sibion (37), a resident of West Kaikulangara in Kollam, from whose house a printer and bundles of paper cut for printing counterfeit Rs 500 notes were seized, may be linked to a money laundering network. A case has been registered against Sibion under provisions relating to illegal money transactions and attempted counterfeit currency printing.

The seized paper bundles bore the design of Rs 500 notes printed along their edges. Police also recovered a currency-counting machine, 42 grams of gold ornaments, Rs 4.32 lakh in cash and a laptop from the house. If counterfeit Rs 500 notes had been printed on the seized paper, their total value would have been approximately Rs 2.5 crore.

Sibion told police that he had purchased the printer through OLX for tattoo printing. However, police have not accepted his explanation. He has admitted to having money laundering dealings with a native of Attingal, according to the investigation. Under the arrangement, three times the amount transferred through a bank account would be paid in cash. Based on this information, police have launched a search for the Attingal native.

In his statement, Sibion claimed that a person involved in illegal money transactions had given him the paper bundles bearing note designs along their edges by misleading him into believing that they were genuine currency. However, police suspect that Sibion, like the Attingal native, was also involved in a transaction in which a small amount was received through a bank account in exchange for a larger amount in cash. Police will examine whether the money seized from the house is genuine currency. His bank transactions and mobile phone call records will also be collected as part of the investigation.

Sibion was questioned by a team led by Kollam ACP S. Shaji and Pallithottam Station House Officer Prathibha G. Nair. He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.
The case came to light following a complaint filed by Sibion's wife with the Pallithottam police on the 17th, alleging that he had been abducted. According to her complaint, his friend Adarsh, a native of Mayyanad, had visited their house and taken Sibion with him, after which he went missing.

Police arrested Adarsh the following day and remanded him to custody. Subsequently, Sibion appeared at the Pallithottam police station, claiming that he had escaped from the group that had abducted him. Following inconsistencies in Sibion's statements, police searched his house and seized the counterfeit currency printer and the paper bundles.