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Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
 Posted - 06/15/2009 : 21:52:08
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June 5th, two Japanese men arrested in Italy on a train to Switzerland with $134.5 billion in US treasury notes hidden in suitcases.
That's equal to 1% of US GDP.
If one man possessed it all, he'd be the richest (or 2nd) man in the world.
That amount of T-Bills held by one party rank 3rd or 4th in the world as a US creditor.
Thoughts?
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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Neckro
1000+ Penny Miser Member
Saudi Arabia
2080 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 22:25:51
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| Who care, we can always print these fella's more. |
Trolling is an art. |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 22:46:18
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I think the first question is where does one come by that sum of treasuries. Those denominations are not traded publicly. Also the fact that they were smuggling them is deserving of a bit of suspician as well.
Couple all that with the fact that the amount exactly matches what geithner said was left of the tarp funds, that should be safe in a trust somewhere I assume, and we got issues all around. |
The silver [is] mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts. Hag 2:8 [/b]
He created it. He controls it. He gave it to us for His use. Why did we turn from sound scriptural currency that PROTECTS us?
KJV Bible w/ Strong's Concordance: http://www.blueletterbible.org/
The book of The Hundreds: http://www.land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/boh/bookOfTheHundreds_v4.1.pdf
The Two Republics: http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/docs/THE_TWO_REPUBLICS.pdf
Good reading: http://ecclesia.org/truth/government.html
A number of people are educated beyond, sometimes way beyond, their intelligence. - Tenbears
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 22:47:13
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good question nickelless.
now i would not carry more than 130 billion at one time.
remember the guy that was detained for carrying less than 10grand at the airport.
so when did carrying cash become illegal? |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 23:08:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Kurr
I think the first question is where does one come by that sum of treasuries. Those denominations are not traded publicly. Also the fact that they were smuggling them is deserving of a bit of suspician as well.
Couple all that with the fact that the amount exactly matches what geithner said was left of the tarp funds, that should be safe in a trust somewhere I assume, and we got issues all around.
Maybe they're just lucky bankers who got in good with Geithner and Bernanke--so what's it to us taxpaying Americans? Methinks these guys will get their hush money and be quietly shuttled off to Luxembourg to live the rest of their lives in luxury.
But again, back to my original question, was there a crime other than not declaring the Treasury notes? |
Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
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Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2009 : 23:18:50
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Nickelless, the crime was in not declaring it to customs.
I saw this item on Thursday on Drudge, and didn't think to much of it. Then, Sunday a link led me to an audio blog by Max Keiser. I think he offered the most plausible explanations. Either the Japanese are trying to quietly divest thier dollar holdings, or, a major bank, he thought maybe BIS -- the Bank of International Settlements --, was going to come up short of reserves for a scheduled audit, and had "leased" the notes to put in their vault for an audit.
Either way, it's not a good thing when people are sneaking around with such "wealth" hidden in luggage.
He also pointed out that the odds of them being counterfeit were null, since there are so many security features on notes of those denoninations, 249 $500 million notes, and 10 $1 billion dollar notes.
The shocking (why am I still shocked?) thing to me is the fact that, besides Drudge, no Amerikan "news" carried this story. Further, the dollar has staged a mini rally, and PM's have dropped since this news broke.
Hmmmmmmm....?
Kurr, yeah, that is interesting that the amount matches the balance of the TARP funds....very interesting....
Go back to sleep Amerika, your government has everything under control.....
Baaaaah, baaaaaah, baaaaah (I'm using less A's in baaaaah due to inflation).
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
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Neckro
1000+ Penny Miser Member
Saudi Arabia
2080 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 00:51:21
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| Maybe America is giving the money out without disclosing it to the public. |
Trolling is an art. |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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El Dee
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
547 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 12:03:05
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Methinks that treasuries don't get sent in the mail. Gotta move 'em from country to country and bank to bank somehow.
Maybe somebody left 'em laying out, and the two guys thought they could grab 'em and deposit them in a Swiss account, but got caught. Dang. |
Trust the government? Ask an Indian. |
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Neckro
1000+ Penny Miser Member
Saudi Arabia
2080 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 15:08:41
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| grats nickell |
Trolling is an art. |
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Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 18:15:52
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quote:
Originally posted by El Dee
Methinks that treasuries don't get sent in the mail. Gotta move 'em from country to country and bank to bank somehow.
Maybe somebody left 'em laying out, and the two guys thought they could grab 'em and deposit them in a Swiss account, but got caught. Dang.
Not likely. Treasuries, at least in these denominations, are no longer issued as bearer bonds. Each one has a barcode, issuing institutions name and routing number, and other identifying-authenticating characteristics.
This leads me to believe Keisers' theory that some bank needed them to have on hand to meet reserve requirements. It's likely that an auditor would examine them for authenticity, but not go so far as to confirm who the registered owner is.
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
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copperpennies
Penny Pincher Member
USA
222 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 19:42:17
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quote:
249 $500 million notes, and 10 $1 billion dollar notes.
Isn't 249 a weird number? Do you think one of the people at customs is a now a $500 Millionaire? |
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Tourney64
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1035 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 21:18:02
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| I heard they were bonds dated from 1933, and most likely counterfeit. |
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Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2009 : 22:37:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Tourney64
I heard they were bonds dated from 1933, and most likely counterfeit.
You should stop listening to whoever told you that......
The $1 billion bonds were "Kennedy" bonds, and the $500 million ones had bar codes on them. There were pictures on the Italian newpaper website.
Of course, Biden told us the FDR went on TV in '29 when the market crashed, so, who knows...?
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
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Edited by - Delawhere Jack on 06/16/2009 22:41:05 |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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keys
Penny Collector Member
383 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 19:59:25
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Market ticker/Denninger has also spoken about this,
You must be logged in to see this link.
and get this-
From Denninger-
"The cute part of this is that if the certificates are real Italy just got a he** of a bonanza - their money laundering laws provide for a statutory 40% penalty for failure to declare instruments and cash in excess of $10,000 Euros, which means they'd garner a close-to-$40 billion dollar windfall.
That ought to help their budget problems!"
So the charge is/was money laundering OR failure to declare instruments & cash.
There is still more to this story though I doubt we will ever learn all of the details. |
I change with the times-
but like silver coins found in your change
I stay the same.
*****************
The United States of America started out as the new Republic of Rome.
Will The United States of America end up as the New Imperial Rome? |
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Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
Posted - 06/17/2009 : 23:01:53
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Very interesting. I like this sentence:
Notice, by the way, that the US Media has totally ignored this story - even though the securities in question are allegedly US instruments.
Of course. The US media is too busy promoting socialized medicine, or blathering on about Scott Petersen, or having public wet dreams on air about Obama because he swatted a fly with his bare hand.
We're F'ing doomed. And you can thank the WORTHLESS news media.
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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
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Edited by - Delawhere Jack on 06/17/2009 23:02:51 |
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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AGgressive Metal
Administrator
USA
1937 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 01:42:50
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quote:
We're F'ing doomed. And you can thank the WORTHLESS news media.
I wish they were merely worthless. They are much worse than that - they are doing the job they are designed to do. |
And he that hath lyberte ought to kepe hit wel / For nothyng is better than lyberte / For lyberte shold not be wel sold for alle the gold and syluer of all the world.
-Caxton's edition of Aesop's Fables, 1484 |
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Market Harmony
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1274 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 08:14:25
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I'm not trying to support the media in any way, as I have my doubts of the various producers' intentions and motivations. BUT, I did see a news report on CNBC last night on this bond smuggling issue. It was a quick-topic panel discussion. They promised to keep up with developments and may report on it again tonight. They even said on the show that it was odd how the major news media was not following this story. A few said that the bonds must be fake. I am leaning towards them being real, but I do not have the details. I am basing my bias on the reaction thus far.
This is the You must be logged in to see this link. that I could find. Very little has been posted on YouTube so far.
I'll be tuning into CNBC tonight. This is kinda nuts that it's not being addressed. |
goto the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org |
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NiBullionCu
Penny Pincher Member
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 10:09:15
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from: You must be logged in to see this link.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A cache of what appeared to be around $135 billion of U.S. bonds seized at the Italian-Swiss border is, in fact, worthless, a Treasury Department spokesman said.
Two alleged Japanese citizens were stopped by Italian authorities June 4 trying to cross into Switzerland with the supposed bonds, hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase, the authorities said.
Authorities said they found 249 certificates worth $500 million each and 10 bonds worth more than $1 billion each, as well as other alleged original banking statements.
Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt, said Thursday the paper is phony.
"Based on the photos we've seen on the Web, they're not even close to looking like a Treasury security," he said.
In the 1980s, the U.S. began converting its marketable debt from paper; these days, Treasury securities are issued electronically.
An official at Japan's Consulate General in Milan said Tuesday that Italy was still investigating the case, adding it wasn't confirmed the two men are Japanese.
"We sent a letter asking for further information to the Italian tax police as well as prosecutors," the Japanese official said. |
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slickeast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2533 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 10:54:20
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quote:
Originally posted by NiBullionCu
from: You must be logged in to see this link.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A cache of what appeared to be around $135 billion of U.S. bonds seized at the Italian-Swiss border is, in fact, worthless, a Treasury Department spokesman said.
Two alleged Japanese citizens were stopped by Italian authorities June 4 trying to cross into Switzerland with the supposed bonds, hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase, the authorities said.
Authorities said they found 249 certificates worth $500 million each and 10 bonds worth more than $1 billion each, as well as other alleged original banking statements.
Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt, said Thursday the paper is phony.
"Based on the photos we've seen on the Web, they're not even close to looking like a Treasury security," he said.
In the 1980s, the U.S. began converting its marketable debt from paper; these days, Treasury securities are issued electronically.
An official at Japan's Consulate General in Milan said Tuesday that Italy was still investigating the case, adding it wasn't confirmed the two men are Japanese.
"We sent a letter asking for further information to the Italian tax police as well as prosecutors," the Japanese official said.
Of course they are gonna say they are fake.
That is the fasted and best way to get people to lose interest in the situation. |
You don't have to be the BEST you just have to be.......SLICK
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Neckro
1000+ Penny Miser Member
Saudi Arabia
2080 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2009 : 13:30:49
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| If they were fake, then why would those Japs take the time and risk smuggling them in? |
Trolling is an art. |
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Japanese men found w/ $134.5 B in Treasuries
Forum Locked
But why was what they were doing illegal?
