Bulgarian man arrested in Delhi for printing counterfeit notes

Police said Metaliev served as a soldier with the Bulgarian Army for six years from 1996, before landing in India in 2018 to make money

A Bulgarian man was arrested for allegedly printing fake currency notes in his Palam Vihar flat in Gurugram, the Delhi Police said on Friday.

Ruslen Petrov Metaliev in custody. (HT Photo)

The suspect, identified as Ruslen Petrov Metaliev, 47, was caught from the Najafgarh-Kapashera Road on Wednesday with counterfeit currencies totaling ₹8 lakh, said HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police (special cell). Police said that Metaliev watched videos on YouTube to learn how to print fake currency and used his flat to manufacture the currencies in denominations of ₹500.

Police said a host of items required to manufacture the currencies were seized from his flat along with ₹1.89 lakh worth of genuine currency made from trading the fake notes. The seized items included a lamination machine, printers, laptops, paper scaling and cutter machines, racing papers containing prints of the numeral 500, photos of Mahatma Gandhi and the letters “RBI”, unfinished paper sheets of fake currencies, wooden frames with imprints of numeral 500, spray adhesive bottles, glitter powder, green foil papers, ink bottles, and a metallic clamping tool.

Dhaliwal said that Metaliev served as a soldier with the Bulgarian Army for six years from 1996, before landing in India in 2018 to make money. He first visited Goa to set up businesses, failed to establish a donut business, and then moved to Gurugram, added police.

In 2019, he and another Bulgarian man were arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly fixing a skimming device in an ATM. He was booked for cheating at the Tughlaq Road police station.

“He befriended some fake currency manufacturers in jail. Once he was released on bail in January 2021, he began serving as a courier man for fake currency notes supplied across India on the directions of racketeers across the world,” said another investigator.

Later, Metaliev allegedly realised that this trade had high demand. “So, he watched YouTube videos to learn the process of manufacturing and began printing and supplying ₹500 notes himself,” said Dhaliwal.

Another investigator said that he chose the Gurugram flat late last year to carry out the printing business as it offered him an isolated space. Police have also identified the person he was going to sell the notes to for commission, but were yet to nab him or gather further details. Metaliev, police added, was also circulating his manufactured notes in the markets to bear his expenses.

The Delhi Police’s special cell learnt about the racket operating out of Gurugram and on Wednesday, they received a tip-off about Metaliev arriving at the Najafgarh-Kapashera Road to deliver a consignment, said Dhaliwal. The suspect was arrested around 11.55am.