PANAJI: Isaiah Haripremeena (35), a native of Mumbai, who is living temporarily at Parra, and a Margao businessman, Ismail Munshi, from Alto Aquem, were arrested in a fake foreign currency notes racket.

A source in the police informed that on a complaint by Mr Arun Pandey, a senior intelligence officer from DRI, Isaiah Haripremeena (35), was apprehended at a star hotel in Porvorim, while trying to tender counterfeit foreign currency notes at the casino counter.
“We are yet to search the house of the alleged accused, arrested in a counterfeit Euros and US dollar case, being probed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Goa and the police,” the source said further.
The police stated that Isaiah is a model and an actor by profession who has acted in a Telugu film and modeled for some magazine also.
It was informed that in mid-August, he had exchanged 8 notes of $ 100 denomination and 4 notes of Euro 100 denomination, at a casino in Calangute. Then on August 27, he visited another casino and brought with him Indian currency and after losing all the cash he tried to exchange two notes of $ 100 denomination, but when the cashier was examining them he snatched them and went away. The actor did not know that the fake notes, he had exchanged at the first casino were identified from the form he had filled mentioning the same number for all the notes. The staff was alerted and even his photograph was kept ready.
However, when he visited the casino in Porvorim on September 2, without knowing that all the three casinos belong to the same management, he was caught when he tried to exchange counterfeit notes in the form of dollars and Euros and the DRI was alerted.
He admitted to having exchanged the fake currency notes but said that a Margao businessman, Ismail Munshi, from Alto Aquem, had supplied the notes.
The businessman claimed that the foreign counterfeit currency came from the United Kingdom in a parcel as payment for the goods supplied to some Europeans in England. His house was searched by the DRI but no more foreign currency notes were recovered.
As per the law, the businessman cannot accept any foreign currency unless he has permission from the Reserve Bank of India. He said that the $2,300 and Euro 400 came in a parcel directly from UK in August.
The police have arrested both of them under section 489-B, 489-C 419, 420 read with 120 - B of IPC.