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Beer kegs have monetized themselves; can gold and silver be far behind?
Fake $1 Billion Federal Reserve Notes
Found in Souther California Apartment
By the Associated Press
via San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/1409930
5.htm
LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities investigating a man who smuggled
money into the country have seized 250 counterfeit bank notes in
billion-dollar denominations, they announced Tuesday.
The 250 bogus Federal Reserve notes had 1934 issue dates and were
stained to make them look old, but no such currency exists, said
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
Federal authorities have not charged the man, Tekle Zigetta, in
connection with the counterfeit notes, but warned that the sale or
transfer of fake securities has increased in recent years. Scam
artists typically sell phony government bank notes at a discounted
value or use them as collateral to secure loans or make purchases.
"A billion is a substantial number, we want to ensure that no one
was duped or fleeced by the passing of these documents," Kice
said. "We also want to publicize this story to see if anyone out
there has additional information to help us build a case."
Authorities opened an investigation into alleged currency smuggling
by Zigetta in 2002 when he arrived at Los Angeles International
Airport with $37,000 in undeclared cash following a trip to South
Korea.
Zigetta, 45, returned to South Korea during the probe, and was
indicted in December on one count each of bulk cash smuggling,
failure to declare more than $10,000 in cash, and making a false
statement to federal authorities, Kice said.
He was arrested at Los Angeles International in January after
federal agents used a ruse to lure him back to California, said
Kice, who declined to discuss the methods agents used.
He remains jailed after pleading guilty Monday to the three counts
and agreed to forfeit the $37,000 he smuggled into the country, said
U.S. Assistant Attorney Vince Farhat. He faces up to 15 years in
federal prison when he's sentenced on June 5.
The investigation led agents to a West Hollywood apartment on
Friday, where they found the billion-dollar notes and several
counterfeit financial instruments, Kice said.
An elderly couple who lived in the apartment told agents they kept
the bills and equipment for Zigetta while he was abroad, and said
they thought the notes were authentic, Kice said.
"You would think the $1 billion denomination would be a giveaway
that these notes are fake, but some people are still taken in,"
James Todak, deputy special agent in charge for the Secret Service
in Los Angeles, said in a statement.
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