Indian court convicts six for fake stamp racket

An Indian court has sentenced six people convicted of manufacturing and selling fake stamps to up to 10 years in jail.

Cases against the six began on 2007 when police made the arrests. Now, more than five years after the arrests, the courts have come down hard on criminals they accuse of threatening the economy of India.

“They had settled a parallel machinery for manufacture and sale of counterfeit postal stamps and counterfeit currency notes thereby jeopardising the whole economy of the country,” the court in Delhi said.

Jail terms of up to ten years await two men who were convicted of conspiring to manufacture and sell fake stamps. The ringleader was also fined $4,000 , with his accomplice facing a lesser financial penalty.

Only one of the counterfeiters escaped without a jail sentence. The court showed leniency as the individual was a first-time offender who had already done years in prison in the time between arrest and conviction.