Japanese Citizens Detained at Swiss Border with Fake Bonds?

[partypup]

I have NO idea what this is about, but the fact that it is occurring as the U.S. hurtles towards a currency crisis can’t be good. The language in bold below, in particular, caught my attention. Might this be a stealth way to hyper-monetize the debt without cranking up yields too much…? Any other theories? What’s also interesting is that the existence of fake bonds has purportedly tainted Asia’s suspicion of all bonds (real or fake). Might this be another reason for the sudden spike in yields?

What’s also very curious is that this incident is only being covered by Asian and Italian media – nowhere else (with the exception of a few paragraphs in Breitbart).

“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.

In order to stop money laundering Italian law sets a ceiling of 10,000 euros per person for importing or exporting money without declaring it. The penalty for violating the law is 40 per cent of the money seized.

If the certificates were real, for Italy it would be like hitting the jackpot. The fine alone would amount to US$ 38 billion, five times the estimated cost of rebuilding quake-devastated Abruzzi region. It would help Italy’s eliminate its public deficit.

If the certificates are fakes the two Japanese nationals could get a very lengthy jail sentence for fraud.

As soon as the seizure was made the US Embassy in Rome was informed. Italian and US secret services were called in to assist the Italian financial police.

Some important international financial newspapers had already reported on the existence of ‘funny money’ circulating on parallel, i.e. unofficial, financial markets.

For AsiaNews a few points need considering:

1. When it comes to Italy the world press has tended to focus on Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi’s personal problems rather than on stories like the bonds smuggling affair which has been front page on Italian newspapers.

2. The fear of counterfeit bonds and securities has spread across Asia with the result that real securities are also considered with suspicion.

3. During the Second World War several countries at war printed and put in circulation perfectly counterfeit enemy money. It is also historically established that some central banks, like the Bank of Italy 65 years ago, issued the same securities twice (identical registered number and code). This way they could print more money with legal tender than they officially declared. The main difference though is that 65 years ago the world was involved in a bloody war, which is not the case today.

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

If you speak Italian, below is the link to Italian paper that broke the story. Would love a translation: http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/?id=3.0.3396869573

[UCGal]

Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.

[UCGal]

Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.

[UCGal]

Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.

[UCGal]

Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.

[UCGal]

Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.

[Anonymous]

My guess: these are North Korean supercounterfeits. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were a link to organized crime in Japan (which also tends to have Korean connections).

These are counterfeit documents produced by professional printing machines & ink available only to national governments.

DPRK has been known to produce fake currency for a long time, now. Guess they’re shooting bigger now.

Of course if you have a legally owned bond you’d want to collect interest on it and then you’d have to register the CUSIP or something equivalent to get paid.

Somebody will notice if the same # is used more than once.

[Anonymous]

My guess: these are North Korean supercounterfeits. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were a link to organized crime in Japan (which also tends to have Korean connections).

These are counterfeit documents produced by professional printing machines & ink available only to national governments.

DPRK has been known to produce fake currency for a long time, now. Guess they’re shooting bigger now.

Of course if you have a legally owned bond you’d want to collect interest on it and then you’d have to register the CUSIP or something equivalent to get paid.

Somebody will notice if the same # is used more than once.

[Anonymous]

My guess: these are North Korean supercounterfeits. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were a link to organized crime in Japan (which also tends to have Korean connections).

These are counterfeit documents produced by professional printing machines & ink available only to national governments.

DPRK has been known to produce fake currency for a long time, now. Guess they’re shooting bigger now.

Of course if you have a legally owned bond you’d want to collect interest on it and then you’d have to register the CUSIP or something equivalent to get paid.

Somebody will notice if the same # is used more than once.

[Anonymous]

My guess: these are North Korean supercounterfeits. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were a link to organized crime in Japan (which also tends to have Korean connections).

These are counterfeit documents produced by professional printing machines & ink available only to national governments.

DPRK has been known to produce fake currency for a long time, now. Guess they’re shooting bigger now.

Of course if you have a legally owned bond you’d want to collect interest on it and then you’d have to register the CUSIP or something equivalent to get paid.

Somebody will notice if the same # is used more than once.

[Anonymous]

My guess: these are North Korean supercounterfeits. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were a link to organized crime in Japan (which also tends to have Korean connections).

These are counterfeit documents produced by professional printing machines & ink available only to national governments.

DPRK has been known to produce fake currency for a long time, now. Guess they’re shooting bigger now.

Of course if you have a legally owned bond you’d want to collect interest on it and then you’d have to register the CUSIP or something equivalent to get paid.

Somebody will notice if the same # is used more than once.

[partypup]

[quote=UCGal]Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.[/quote]

Right, but I think the distinction here is that we are not in a *world* war. In truth, there’s always a war (or wars) going on in some part of the world. A world war consumes the entire financial system with massive spending. Afghanistan and Iraq have not caused a massive surge in global spending – only a massive surge in U.S. spending.

[partypup]

[quote=UCGal]Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.[/quote]

Right, but I think the distinction here is that we are not in a *world* war. In truth, there’s always a war (or wars) going on in some part of the world. A world war consumes the entire financial system with massive spending. Afghanistan and Iraq have not caused a massive surge in global spending – only a massive surge in U.S. spending.

[partypup]

[quote=UCGal]Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.[/quote]

Right, but I think the distinction here is that we are not in a *world* war. In truth, there’s always a war (or wars) going on in some part of the world. A world war consumes the entire financial system with massive spending. Afghanistan and Iraq have not caused a massive surge in global spending – only a massive surge in U.S. spending.

[partypup]

[quote=UCGal]Um we are at war, on two fronts. It’s not the same scale as WWII – but we are at war.

No comment on the bond thing. I don’t know enough on the topic to have an opinion.[/quote]

Right, but I think the distinction here is that we are not in a *world* war. In truth, there’s always a war (or wars) going on in some part of the world. A world war consumes the entire financial system with massive spending. Afghanistan and Iraq have not caused a massive surge in global spending – only a massive surge in U.S. spending.

[Author]

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