Conference nyoss1::market_investing

926.0. "$100 bills" by CAPNET::ROSCH () Mon Oct 16 1995 11:20

    I don't know if this belongs here or not but I think it may have some
    effect on investing.
    
    FWIW -
    
    Report: Counterfeit $100 Bill Coming From Syria or Lebanon
    
    WASHINGTON (AP) - A flood of high-quality $100 bills counterfeited in
    the Middle East is so widespread it has caused some foreign banks to
    lose confidence in the bills and may be part of an attempt to
    destabilize the U.S. economy, the New Yorker reports.
    
    The counterfeiters are believed to be operating in Syria or Lebanon,
    the magazine reported.
    
    Reports of such a counterfeiting ring first emerged in 1992 from a
    House Republican task force. But that report said the operation was
    based in Iran, not Syria or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley of
    Lebanon.
    
    U.S. Treasury officials have played down the reports because of fears
    they could shake confidence in American currency, widely used around
    the globe, the New Yorker reported in its Oct. 23 edition, on sale
    today.
    
    Treasury officials did not return calls on Sunday.
    
    Last month, when Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin introduced the first
    major redesign of American currency in 65 years, he said it was
    prompted by future counterfeiting threats, not a current problem.
    
    But counterfeit $100 bills have become so widespread in Russia that
    German banks will no longer accept them from Russians, a top Russian
    Central Bank official told State Department officials on Sept. 13, the
    magazine said.
    
    Last February, the Hong Kong Standard newspaper also reported a rash of
    counterfeit $100 bills there. And scattered reports of problems have
    popped up in Ireland, England and Greece.
    
    The State Department believes Syria's military is protecting the ring,
    the magazine said. Officials sought a diplomatic solution in a May 1994
    meeting between Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Syria's
    president, but were stymied because they do not know the counterfeiting
    ring's exact location.
    
    The bills, printed on paper startlingly like that used by the U.S.
    Treasury, are so good they could fool currency scanners at Federal
    Reserve banks, said Boston federal prosecutor Paul Kelly, who was
    involved in an investigation by Secret Service agents.
    
    "The Secret Service did believe that this was an effort not just to
    acquire amazing wealth but also to destabilize the economy of the
    United States," Kelly said.
    
    According to the Secret Service, counterfeiting abroad now far
    outweighs domestic counterfeiting. In countries with troubled
    economies, including Russia, American dollars can be the principal
    medium of exchange.
    
    

    
    Interesting. I bet they saw the movie "The In-laws" with Peter Falk and
    Alan Arkin where a Latin American dictator had the same idea.