Madhepura, Bihar: The one million dollar the Bihar police claimed to have seized on Wednesday night from the election-bound state comprises a single note - and is in all possibility, a fake.
The police, which held a press conference on Thursday, had produced the note before the media, along with other items it claimed to have seized from two motorbike-borne men in Madhepura - two gold plates, three SIM cards and five ATM cards.
A close shot of the note carries a picture of the Statue of Liberty. The denomination shows a one, followed by six zeroes - 1000000.
The trouble is, according to the US Department of the Treasury website, there are no $1000000 notes. And the Statue of Liberty is yet to be seen on US banknotes.
The website explicitly states: "These notes were from a special limited copyrighted art series originally sold by a Canadian firm for $1.00 each as a collectible item. They are not official United States currency notes manufactured by our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). As such, they are not redeemable by the Department of the Treasury."
Batches of these notes are even available for sale on the amazon.com website.
Police checks on vehicles have increased in Bihar since elections were announced, with the Election Commission ordering that the flow of black or untaxed money to be used in electioneering be monitored and checked.
The arrested bikers, the police had said, were suspected to be part of a group operating along the border that Bihar shares with Nepal, and that the money might have been brought into India for the assembly elections.
The police are yet to comment on the authenticity of the $1000000 note. But apparently, these notes had foxed US lawmen too.
The US Department of the Treasury website mentions: "The BEP learned of these certificates in the spring of 1982. All related correspondence was forwarded to the United States Secret Service to decide if there were any violations of Federal currency laws. The Secret Service subsequently advised, however, that these certificates did not violate any United States law."
The police, which held a press conference on Thursday, had produced the note before the media, along with other items it claimed to have seized from two motorbike-borne men in Madhepura - two gold plates, three SIM cards and five ATM cards.
A close shot of the note carries a picture of the Statue of Liberty. The denomination shows a one, followed by six zeroes - 1000000.
The website explicitly states: "These notes were from a special limited copyrighted art series originally sold by a Canadian firm for $1.00 each as a collectible item. They are not official United States currency notes manufactured by our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). As such, they are not redeemable by the Department of the Treasury."
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Police checks on vehicles have increased in Bihar since elections were announced, with the Election Commission ordering that the flow of black or untaxed money to be used in electioneering be monitored and checked.
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The police are yet to comment on the authenticity of the $1000000 note. But apparently, these notes had foxed US lawmen too.
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