$134 Billion in a suitcase....

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  1. #1

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    $134 Billion in a suitcase....

    Yes, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction (unless it is fiction in this case)...



    Your mission, should you choose to accept it, would be to provide a suitable ending to this story.

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    Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: William Pesek - Bloomberg.com

    Two Japanese men are detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland. Details are maddeningly sketchy, so naturally the global rumor mill is kicking into high gear.

    Are these would-be smugglers agents of Kim Jong Il stashing North Korea’s cash in a Swiss vault? Bagmen for Nigerian Internet scammers? Was the money meant for terrorists looking to buy nuclear warheads? Is Japan dumping its dollars secretly? Are the bonds real or counterfeit?

    The implications of the securities being legitimate would be bigger than investors may realize. At a minimum, it would suggest that the U.S. risks losing control over its monetary supply on a massive scale.
    and

    Counterfeit $100 bills are one thing; two guys with undeclared bonds including 249 certificates worth $500 million and 10 “Kennedy bonds” of $1 billion each is quite another.

    The bust could be a boon for Italy. If the securities are found to be genuine, the smugglers could be fined 40 percent of the total value for attempting to take them out of the country. Not a bad payday for a government grappling with a widening budget deficit and rebuilding the town of L’Aquila, which was destroyed by an earthquake in April.
    Last edited by shri; 21-06-2009 at 02:12 PM.

  2. #2

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    "Are these would-be smugglers agents of Kim Jong Il stashing North Korea’s cash in a Swiss vault? Bagmen for Nigerian Internet scammers? "

    Statement from North Korean Spokesman = " Its an obvious plot by Capitalist US agents to denigrate the Dear Leader. It is well known that the net worth of the great Democratic Socialist Republic of Korea is not more that $134 dollars so we find the obvious typo to be a stupid error by the Yankee agents of the CIA. We declare war on all those who would suggest otherwise especially in the US state of Alaska who can - say hello to our little friend - imminently."

    Statement from DR BANDA MOGOTU (PhD, KGB, VC, DSO ) ORGANISATION OF NIGERIAN INTERNET ENTREPRENEURS = " WE DENIE THE ACTUZATION COMPLETE AND GIVE WARM WELKUM TO OIL R FREINS IN THE WURLD. PLEASE SEND 70,000 US DOLLARS TO OUR BANK ACCOUNT AS ROYALTY FEE FOR PUBLISHING THIS MESSAGE. "

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Boris:
    Statement from DR BANDA MOGOTU (PhD, KGB, VC, DSO ) ORGANISATION OF NIGERIAN INTERNET ENTREPRENEURS = " WE DENIE THE ACTUZATION COMPLETE AND GIVE WARM WELKUM TO OIL R FREINS IN THE WURLD. PLEASE SEND 70,000 US DOLLARS TO OUR BANK ACCOUNT AS ROYALTY FEE FOR PUBLISHING THIS MESSAGE. "
    You forgot to add the amount in words i.e. (SEVENTY THOUSAND), also would it not be 'PRINCE' BANDA....

  4. #4

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    Bill Gates moving his petty cash?


  5. #5

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    Real Madrid were due to make another big signing this week....


  6. #6

  7. #7

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    I don't believe it. The conspiracy theorists are going to be all over this (if they aren't already).


  8. #8

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    They are ... and its confirmed that the bonds are fake. However, the competition is still on. The best explanation .. or the best ending to this story wins a $500 gift cert.


  9. #9

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    The US govt. needed cash flow and sold a number of bonds to the Japanese over the last several decades without ever telling the US public about it. The Japanese, who need money because of the recession, took the bonds to Switzerland where they could be cashed in and the money could be transferred back to Japan's coffers discreetly. The bonds could then be destroyed.

    The US, which never expected the Japanese guys to get stopped in Italy, are denying the bonds are real, and the Japanese are in on it. I bet there were a number of frantic phone calls made between Japan and the US over the last 48 hours. The Japanese will get their cash either way, but the Italians will hold onto those 'fake' bonds.

    Last edited by jayinhongkong; 22-06-2009 at 10:56 AM.

  10. #10

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    A foreign country (I can't tell you which one because I don't want to be suicided) wants to influence US foreign policy. If the US doesn't do what that foreign country says, they will swamp the world not only with perfectly counterfeited US treasury bonds, but also with perfectly counterfeited US dollars (their ability to copy dollars has been proved last week with a shipment of 50 trillion US$, in 50 notes of one trillion each, to the US embassy in Singapore).

    By the way, the border police was tipped off: 1) the Italian border police doesn't even go on the trains when the trains leave Italy. 2) if they did go on the train, and they did check the tourists, they would only have checked the passport. Since Japanese people don't need a passport for Italy or Switzerland, there should have been nothing wrong with it. 3) if they did also check the suitcases, they would certainly not have found the treasury bonds.

    It's pretty obvious that someone wanted the border police to find these bonds.

    Last edited by Safran; 22-06-2009 at 11:30 AM.

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