News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

[blazespinnaker]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

However, I find the theory of market manipulation credible. Certainly we're moving through a pretty economically dry forest here and it'd be pretty easy to start a serious conflagration with a an incident like this.

[metalman]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

We checked it out before running the story here.

The Italian authorities documented the arrest and seizure carefully. Here is a short video.

They really did carry it in a briefcase!

FAKE!

Fraudulent T-Bills / Bonds / CD & GIC Investments

Cons know that certain people will only invest in secure "non-stock" or they tailor their scam to mimic government-backed conservative securities.

"Limited Edition" Treasury Securities

Certain foreign individuals and groups are attempting to sell fictitious securities referred to as "Limited Edition" Treasury securities. As part of this scheme broker-dealers and banks are being approached to act as middlemen.

The sales pitch misrepresents the way legitimate U.S. Treasuries may be issued, bought or sold and describes the offering as:

	having a term of 10 years,
	yielding an annual of 6%,
	requiring a minimum purchase amount of $100 million,
	having an initial price of 57% of face value,
	having an unspecified offering amount (available for sale until "exhausted"), and
	being issued in physical (paper) form.

There is, however, no such security as a "Limited Edition" Treasury security. They are often simply window-dressing for a prime bank or ponzi scam.

The Forms in which Marketable Treasury Securities Exist

Marketable U.S. Treasury securities only exist in three forms: (1) book-entry, (2) bearer, and (3) registered. An overwhelming amount (99.84% of outstanding marketable securities) are in book-entry form which exist not as printed certificates but rather as computer records.

Only .14% exist in bearer form of printed certificate with interest coupons attached but no name on it. Finally, an even smaller percentage (.02% of outstanding marketable securities) exist in registered form with the name of the owner on it. They discontinued the issuance of printed registered securities in 1986.

Scams Involving the Renting or Leasing of Treasury Securities

Cons pretend to "rent" or "lease" Treasury securities which either don't exist or are not even owned by the party making the offer.

If you ask a leasing scam artist to produce the securities or prove ownership, they may be unable to do so and will offer excuses such as "they are frozen at my bank;" "a wealthy philanthropist has assigned them to us to assign to others for infrastructure or humanitarian purposes in third world countries and wishes to remain anonymous;" or "bank secrecy laws of this country prevent such a verification."

Misuse of Public Debt Forms as Evidence of Ownership

Scam artists often misuse documents or forms as "evidence" that they hold the securities and claim that the forms can convey official ownership or title to the securities listed on them.

They will also use a valid CUSIP number of a Treasury security that trades regularly in the market so you can get pricing information and confirm issue of the security. The trouble is that it identifies an entire issue not a particular individual certificate security, nor does it indicate ownership.

They may claim that their fraudulent offering has been certified by an official body such as the International Chamber of Commerce. They may also claim that it is a special issue to the United Nations to pass on to other companies that are willing to do humanitarian and infrastructure projects in developing countries.

U.S. Treasury Bills - One Year "Fresh Cut"

One person who represented himself to be a consultant to lesser-developed or Third World countries offered $500 billion worth of One Year "Fresh Cut" Treasury Bills which did not exist.

"U.S. Dollar Bonds"

Fake bonds, said to have been issued in the 1930's by the CIA to help Chiang Kai-shek fight the communists, and buried in caves by his generals and their heirs for years, have recently been "unearthed".

They are now being fraudulently offered to people at a fraction of their face value.Many inquiries come from West Coast law firms that are checking on the validity of these bonds for clients that reside in China, Singapore and Taiwan.

Most of these fictitious obligations refer to the Ministry of Finance of the United States and the of America neither of which has ever existed.

[rdgmail]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

what a coincidence.

make that 'The Treasury Department thinks it has about $134.5 billion left in its financial-rescue fund' but doesn't!

Ok that WSJ story is from March- but it's still a coincidence.

[Slimprofits]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

http://www.japantoday.com/category/c...ained-in-italy

2 Japanese carrying $134 bil worth of U.S. bonds detained in Italy
Thursday 11th June, 06:18 AM JST

ROME — Two Japanese nationals were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian daily said Wednesday. The Japanese consulate general in Milan confirmed that the detention had taken place and said it was trying to confirm with Italian authorities whether the two were indeed Japanese nationals and their identities.

According to the report in il Giornale, two unidentified Japanese in their 50s concealed the bonds, including 249 U.S. Treasury bonds each worth $500 million, in a suitcase with a false bottom that was searched by the Italian authorities June 3 when they were in Chiasso, at the border with Switzerland, about 50 kilometers north of Milan. The daily did not say on what charges they have been detained, but the two may have been detained on suspicion of attempting to take a large amount of securities out of Italy without declaring it because the paper said they had not declared the bonds.

[Slimprofits]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Here is the article from il Giornale:

(just an excerpt, translation via google)

http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=356715&START=1&2col=

But, once in Chiasso, unnoticed can not pass. The border now officially no longer manned, since Switzerland joined the Schengen Agreement. But customs officials and financiers are still there, and money from traveling even dark here and across the border. The altr'anno had caught a hundred million Americans securities. A few days ago, eight hundred thousand euros of securities in Luxembourg. Less than small change, facing the incredible loot that jumps out of two suitcases. "As a bond by a billion dollars - tells a specialist journal in the art - I never even heard speak. If there are, I believe that circulate only in relations between States. " To understand who the hell are these titles, spoke yesterday of the 007 United States, the Secret Service dell'ambasciata Rome. The international intrigue is only just beginning.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

North Korea has a long history of very aggressive and large scale international organized crime.

The North Korean ship Ping Su is but one high profile and large scale drug and counterfeiting incident that directly implicated North Korea.

North Korea has a long history of infiltration and involvement in Japan and it's organized crime.

I'm not trying to find a reason to blame North Korea for anything in hopes of war...far from it.

But there are precedents......

Just trying to flesh out potential "acts of financial war" if it turns out to be counterfeit and who the puppeteers may be.

IF counterfeit......is it even remotely feasible to run a scam with them? Wouldn't there be a pretty straightforward authentication process/chain of evidence/ownership?

IF real......why no diplomatically protected or at the least coordinated/sanctioned travel arrangements?

I'm no big T-bill expert.......but is this potentially an intentional message being sent.....or an unintentional signal to the masses paying attention?

I'm not a big conspiracy junkie, but this one kinda gives me the willies unless I'm somehow missing the logical forest through the commonsense trees.

[xela]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Also and interview (in Italian) with the Colonel here
Main points:
- they have doubts on the Kennedy bonds, the other seem real at sight; US services help in determining authenticity.
- not the first time US-bonds have been sequestred (but highest was "only" 100 mil. and those turned out to be counterfeits).
- the fine would be 40% or 38 billions euro

[Chris Coles]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Also and interview (in Italian) with the Colonel here
Main points:
- they have doubts on the Kennedy bonds, the other seem real at sight; US services help in determining authenticity.
- not the first time US-bonds have been sequestred (but highest was "only" 100 mil. and those turned out to be counterfeits).
- the fine would be 40% or 38 billions euro

Why not the ultimate money laundering scam? You steal the paper from someone that will never admit to the original ownership, deliberately get caught, fined 40% and paid out in new money... As EJ says, Beats work.

[big67]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

maybe this is some sort of recycling agreement b/t the Japanese and American governments.

this keeps the Japanese showing up at the now weekly 50+ billion dollar treasury bill/note garage sales and they secretly dump it out the back door to us.

if this is the case, what do the Japanese get in return? American securities from the PPT?

or is the Japanese govt so far into our debt, that they are willing participants to keep the Ponzi/Madoff US Tbill scam going?

dunno - all speculation

Hi from Italy. I can't get to date any confirmation of the new on the newspapers here. To me this is very strange. I crossed the Chiasso border some times, and the police almost never stops you.

Obviously I have an "italian face" and I was driving an italian car.

But who in his right mind would try to pass it with a smiling japanese face carrying some billions on board of... a Toyota???

[Willette]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

This reminds me of another story about Japanese and bonds. They once issued a "special" series of government bonds, unlike their normal run-of-the-mill bonds. They were used for political payoffs. Years later, they refused to honor or pay off those bonds, claiming that they were counterfeit. The unusual nature of the issue became part of the evidence that the bonds were counterfeit. It was actually a more complex story, because only SOME of the bond holders were stiffed. Others on the political gravy train did get theirs redeemed. In fact, word got out that anybody attempting to negotiate this bond issue would be charged with fraud, counterfeiting, etc. Thus was the government able to "pay" for some goods or services and later renege while accusing the bond holders themselves of a crime. Just another example of some of the games played with government bonds. In the end, they are only promises that government can break at will, and the market for promises is overbought.

Story from Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold

[big67]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Well.... I just finished reading the stories on the newspapers.

If the bonds are true and not fake, then a 40% fine applies for illegal money transfer.

It's 35 Billion Euros fine....

It's finally time to build that 10 billion Euros Messina Bridge to Sicily, Silvio!

[Chris Coles]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Well.... I just finished reading the stories on the newspapers.

If the bonds are true and not fake, then a 40% fine applies for illegal money transfer.

It's 35 Billion Euros fine....

It's finally time to build that 10 billion Euros Messina Bridge to Sicily, Silvio!

Please, I cannot believe that the Sicilians would want zillions of tourists tramping all over their wonderful vinyards...

[sn1p3r]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

My uninformed, naive, uneducated votes are going to

a. counterfeit, scam, etc
b. deep conspiracy of financial warfare

because:

a. because it sounds like something the idiot drug smugglers do like have 1,000 lbs of marijuana in a moving truck while speeding with no tail lights and stolen tags...

b. just seems too out of context, agree with earlier poster about there being more sophisticated ways to move this if you have billions...

[TheServant]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Things that make you go hummm. Seems to be a lot of those nowadays. So what's left in the TARP after the fine is payed. ;-)

[big67]

Re: News of the Weird: June 10, 2009 - Eric Janszen

Please, I cannot believe that the Sicilians would want zillions of tourists tramping all over their wonderful vinyards...

Well believe me, they will: sicilians need the money even more than others.

Anyway: the details are mind blogging: the 2 middle aged Japanese were on board of a "local" train from a secondary station of Milan, that is a train that stops at all the little villages from there to Lugano, carrying workers, students for their daily commutes... you can figure out: on such a train they were as visible as white men in a Zambia village.

They could have used the direct train from the Milan central station to Lugano, no stop train = no chance to get caught...