another 100 gigabucks of "fake" bonds

[Eugen Leitl]

Ho hum. Nothing to see here, move along.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601092&sid=afX0BWHToC1g

U.S. Authorities Probing $100 Billion of Bonds Seized in Italy

By Sonia Sirletti and Elisa Martinuzzi

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Secret Service is examining more than $100
billion of U.S. government bonds confiscated in northern Italy in August,
just two months after $134 billion of allegedly fake securities were seized
in a nearby town.

The Secret Service is analyzing whether the bonds taken in August may be
counterfeit, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Rome. Italybs
financial police in Varese, north of Milan, arrested two individuals carrying
the securities in a briefcase, according to a person involved in the case.

The two men currently are in custody as prosecutors in the town of Busto
Arsizio carry out their investigation, the person said. The seized notes
include securities with face values of $500 million and $1 billion, Italian
daily MF reported today, without saying where it got the information.

bThere must be a well-organized group behind these alleged crimes,b Fabio
Polimeni, a Milan lawyer specializing in counterfeiting cases, said.

Italian authorities seized U.S. treasuries on June 4 with a face value of
more than $134 billion from two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into
Switzerland. The two men later disappeared and the case is still under
investigation. The U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a
suitcase carried by the men were fake, a U.S. Treasury spokesman said June
18.

bAs financial markets become more sophisticated, creative and bigger, we can
expect criminal activity to go with it and itbs happening everywhere,b Livia
Oglio, a Milan lawyer, said. bThe amount seized is phenomenal.b

Since the beginning of the year the police at border stations in Italy have
seized 1.7 million euros of genuine money and bonds, and have confiscated
more than 100 million euros of bonds that have been determined to be false,
according to an Italian finance police statement in July.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sonia Sirletti in Milan at
ssirletti at bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 18, 2009 07:02 EDT