Member of Parliament Chidambaram Palaniappan of India has proposed a new law to make production, circulation or smuggling of counterfeit currency a terrorist activity in India. This is one of many attempts by the MP to classify actions that compromise economic security as terrorist threats.

Under the current draft of the law, no differentiation is made between the intended uses of the money. In other words, someone who intends to use the counterfeit money to finance bomb making and someone who intends to use the counterfeit money to finance a shopping spree at the mall are treated the same.

The link between terrorist activities and counterfeiting has been known for a long time. Making the actual crime of counterfeiting (even if it is just currency) a terrorist act is not a very big jump. As mentioned previously, counterfeiting undermines economic security, which is just as important for security and stability as border security.

It is also worth noting that one of the stated goals of many terrorist groups is to destroy Western style capitalism. The inflation that can be used by counterfeiting can severally affect the stability of an economy.   

We are wondering if this might be the start of a new trend. Has the way been paved to make counterfeiting of other items a crime? Do you think other countries will follow suit?

Want to learn more about anti-counterfeiting solutions for currency? Make an appointment with an InkSure representative.