US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

[Sapiens]

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15456&size=A

US government securities seized from Japanese nationals, not clear whether real or fake
Bonds worth US$ 134.5 billion are seized. This is the largest financial smuggling case in history. But are they real? Concern over ‘funny money’ or counterfeit securities is spreading in Asia. The international press is silent.

Milan (AsiaNews) – Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each.

Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from the real ones.

What caught the policemen’s attention were the billion dollar securities. Such a large denomination is not available in regular financial and banking markets. Only states handle such amounts of money.

The question now is who could or would counterfeit or smuggle these non-negotiable bonds.

...

[dummass]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15456&size=A

These are strange times! :eek:

[Andreuccio]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

It's been about twenty years since I've crossed the border between Italy and Switzerland, but I don't remember ever running into the "Financial Police". Is the border more difficult to cross now than it was then?

Of course, I didn't have $135 billion in bonds on me, either, so maybe they knew who to look for.

[audrey_girl]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

if these are real - who has this much to smuggle?

US, China, Japan, ,,,?

anyone else?

also - what could you do with this in Switzerland? how could you trade these?

could you affect the major world markets? euro, us treasury, stock?

just asking

[Chris Coles]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

My guess is that they will turn out to be both real and perfectly legal.

[cjppjc]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

My guess is that they will turn out to be both real and perfectly legal.

Yeh, hard to think you can get away with counterfeiting something worth a billion dollars. But who knows. Maybe some criminal deal where the price paid is 20 cents on the dollars, and the purchaser has contacts who can wash them through the banking system.

[audrey_girl]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

My guess is that they will turn out to be both real and perfectly legal.

yes - but if they are real, then they probably came from one of 3 or 4 govts

wonder what the plan was to do with these; how they would have been utilized ? to what end?

and if they are real, who is the original owner? the US govt?

has anyone claimed these?

benny?

[audrey_girl]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

Where the bonds came from and where they are going? Answer that and we may solve a great mystery: how Japan intends to sell its US Treasury bond hoard before China sells theirs.


http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthr...602#post103602

thanks EJ

now I understand

[Jay]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

Wow. Whether they're real or fake it will likely help undermine faith in paper currency either way. If those quantities of money are being illegitimately moved, it doesn't engender faith in the existing system.

[LargoWinch]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

Since I do not own any (yet ;)), how can someone cash these instruments? Are they for Central Banks only? Or perhaps inter-banks instruments?

[blazespinnaker]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

These aren't bearer bonds are they?

It seems to me that ownership is probably controlled by the US treasury and if you want to transfer / sell them, you probably have to notify the US treasury through established channels.

You could probably photocopy these things and they'd have the same value.

Maybe the reason they were smuggled wasn't so much because they were trying to steal them or hide them, they just wanted to hide some paper evidence of who the true owners were. Not sure why they wouldn't just fax them though, and then burn them.

[marvenger]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

don't think anyone trusts anyone. buyers probably wanted more than the treasuries word that they were now the legal owners of bonds they'd bought. Wonder what they paid with?

[blazespinnaker]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

don't think anyone trusts anyone. buyers probably wanted more than the treasuries word that they were now the legal owners of bonds they'd bought. Wonder what they paid with?

I can't imagine the treasury invests in a lot of counterfitting technology on the treasuries. I also suspect if you have 134B worth of treasuries, you could probably counterfit a few certificates.

This really doesn't pass the smell test... probably why the MSM isn't bothering picking it up.

[thunderdownunder]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

100% True test of Fake or not.
Take the bonds out, all 134 billion and put a match to them. If they dont burn thay is real money, if they burn thay was just a bit of purdy paper dat ant nufin but carbon and worth doddly shite. and the greens will want to tax de carbon footprint youall left on the ground. Go on Iz dares yah Burn em

[pianodoctor]

Re: US$ 134.5 billion seized at Italian Border

I was getting skeptical about the veracity of this story, as there seems to be absolutely no media coverage of this other than the asianews.it cite, but I did some digging and found the Italian Guardia di Finaza web pages and it seems they are indeed reporting it. I can't read Italian but it's clearly referencing the same story. Can anyone read Italian check if any of the pertinent facts contradict the asianews.it version? http://www.gdf.it/GdF__Informa/Notiz...518911049.html