Italian Police Seize $6T In Counterfeit U.S. Treasury Bonds

[DummDays]

yesterday, one - for me astonishing and hardly to understand - financial news made headlines in europe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/italy-police-seize-6-trillion-of-fake-u-s-treasury-bonds-in-switzerland.html

..nominal value of $1 billion a piece, dated 1934 ?

can somebody explain me, how people "hold" us treasury bonds?

who else than a big bank could buy such a single bond?

thanks, if somebody can give me a clue about this "story"

cheers

[Naam]

there isn't much to understand. the bonds are fake. bonds denominated one billion dollars each never existed. until the mid 90s US Treasuries could be held physically in a locker or under the mattress and interest coupons submitted at due date for cash.

slightly more information here:

[geriatrickid]

The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources

Hmm. Who needs plutonium??

[flying]

The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources

Hmm. Who needs plutonium??

Oh lord is there no sub-forum safe from the zealots cheerleading?

Next you know who will be here warning us of the impending doom

I have all but stopped reading & posting in the Thai/World news sections because of these zealots

They even take fake names now like Z12 to spew rhetoric till banned

although it was pretty obvious who that was....

One would hope the financial section could remain a safe haven...........

[rakman]

The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources

Hmm. Who needs plutonium??

How would Nigeria get Plutonium? Plutonium can only be created in (typically) graphite pile reactors. Nigeria has a small (31KW) commercial miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) designed by China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE)

The whole thing sounds like a Nigerian email money scam.

[impulse]

This sounds more like a bit from an Austin Powers movie than anything.

Though I wonder if, as Naam says, there were never any genuine $Billion denomination bonds, why would anyone bother to counterfeit them? And why would any authorities consider them some kind of threat? I'm asking because I don't know.

Or perhaps these particular Italians are trying to pull one over on the Nigerian Royal Family member who keeps e-mailing them trying to get the Italians to send $25,000 in return for a $25,000,000 reward for helping them get some money out of the country?

[Naam]

And why would any authorities consider them some kind of threat? I'm asking because I don't know.

and neither does the journàsslist know who wrote the rubbish.

[Naam]

...why would anyone bother to counterfeit them?

because of the proverbial sucker who is born every minute

[geriatrickid]

The individuals involved were planning to buy plutonium from Nigerian sources

Hmm. Who needs plutonium??

Oh lord is there no sub-forum safe from the zealots cheerleading?

Next you know who will be here warning us of the impending doom

I have all but stopped reading & posting in the Thai/World news sections because of these zealots

They even take fake names now like Z12 to spew rhetoric till banned

although it was pretty obvious who that was....

One would hope the financial section could remain a safe haven...........

I asked a reasonable question. Who needs plutonium? and who is this Z12? Was it Zorro?

[flying]

I asked a reasonable question. Who needs plutonium? and who is this Z12? Was it Zorro?

Nah Zorro was not a zealot

[Naam]

I asked a reasonable question. Who needs plutonium? and who is this Z12? Was it Zorro?

Nah Zorro was not a zealot

and neither did Zorro's wife select the ugliest housemaid available whenever the Zorro family employed one.