2 Japanese Carrying $134 Bil Worth Of U.S. Bonds Detained in Italy

2 Japanese Carrying $134 Bil Worth Of U.S. Bonds Detained in Italy

www.japantoday.com

Two Japanese nationals were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian daily said Wednesday. The Japanese consulate general in Milan confirmed that the detention had taken place and said it was trying to confirm with Italian authorities whether the two were indeed Japanese nationals and their identities.
the two may have been detained on suspicion of attempting to....

(visit the link for the full news article)

What is going on here? Is this two operatives acting alone, or on the part of a government?

Italian authorities not determined if the bonds are real or fake, if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history!

If they are fake, the matter would be even more staggering as the quality of the counterfeit work is so good that the fake bonds are not distinguishable from the real ones.

www.japantoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

USA securities for 96 billion euros.

249 bonds of the Federal Reserve of the United States, each with nominal value of 500 million dollars, as well as 10 Kennedy bonds each of 1 billion dollars in value, hidden in the double bootom of a suit case, for a total of a good 134 billion dollars, equal to more than 96 billion euros.

This is how much was sequestered [don't know legal implication of this term] at the internation railway station in Chiasso, at the Swiss-Italian border, functionaries of the Territorial Operational Section of Chiasso, in collaboration with soldiers/members of the Financial Police [Guardia di Finanzia] of Ponte Chiasso, during the checking of bags aimed at stopping the illegal trafficing of capital.

The amount was in the possession of to fifty year old Japanese men who had arrived at the Chiasso railway station on a train coming from Italy and who, when checked by customs, had stated that they had nothing to declare.

Instead an accurate check of the bags facilitated the discovery of the American securities, hidden in the bottom of the suitcase, in a closed section separated from the part of the bag containing personal items.

Apart from the securities the Japanese men were carrying a considerable sum of original bank documents.

Investigations are underway to establish the identity and the origin of both the bonds and the bank documents that have also been impounded. If the securities are authentic, based on regulations in place, the penalty applicable to the possessors [of the bonds] could reach 38 billion euros, equivalent to 40% of the sum in excess of the acceptable baggage allowance of 10 thousand euro.

(English Translation of this:
www.gdf.it...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e6f4c129acee.jpg[/atsimg]http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/?id=3.0.3396869573

[edit on 11-6-2009 by burntheships]

Who would risk trying to smuggle that kind of money through customs? Usually if its over a certain amount and you lie about it the government can confiscate and not return it. They have to be fake, no one could be that stupid.

They aint Japanese. They are Chinese.
It's all part of a plot to bring down the dollar.
Takes his foil hat out of the drawer and dusts it off.

I remember a few weeks back a post here on ATS about some rather funny runs on US bonds that threatened the dollars value. I wonder if this is just a part of that plot.

Anybody remember that post?

I cant seem to find it.

Edit to add...

I found the post. Took me forever.
I highly recommend reading the entire post. Some of the follow on posters have some very good in site to the implications of these type of activities.

RED ALERT: FX Dislocation In Process

Someone, apparently someone in Asia, wants dollars. A LOT of dollars. There is a forced-liquidation event underway that is massive, it is against all asset classes and it is spreading.

It originated at approximately 7:15 CT this evening and originated out of Asia somewhere. All of the primary currency crosses got hit at once - Euro, Pound, Yen - all weakened dramatically against the dollar and it is still going on. The Asian stock markets got walloped at the same time in coordinated waves of forced selling.

At the same time the US futures markets got nailed as well, down some six handles on the /ES in a near-vertical drop. While this sounds "not that big" to move these markets in a coordinated fashion like this is a trillion-dollar enterprise - this is not some small company that went bankrupt, or even a large company.

[edit on 11-6-2009 by SLAYER69]

I bet stolen or counterfit... The thing about this story is that the undeclared 134B in bonds smuggled in false panel briefcases, etc.. Sounds like something from the movies. This apparently hit the AP but MSM is not reporting on, which is even more suspicious than the original story.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I seem to remember seeing that...also with the bond market the way it has been...crazy.

Italy would benefit from this...seems that they have done simialr before...
Bank of Italy (now BofA) issued the same securities twice...identical reg number and code. Like printing money only with a twist!



[edit on 11-6-2009 by burntheships]

Interesting to say the least, definetly worth keeping an eye on.

They aint Japanese. They are Chinese.

I thought it was the North Koreans who are always impersonating the Japanese, not the Chinese.

The huge denominations of these bonds is worrying though. They are not publicly available, so they (if real) would have to be issued to countries. And governments always use the 'diplomatic mail' option for their smuggling-operations.
So this is either a country with no diplomatic ties to Switzerland, or a company/private person that somehow got their hands on this. Are there any ex-dictators that could have taken this out of their till?

Originally posted by Dorfl
company/private person that somehow got their hands on this. Are there any ex-dictators that could have taken this out of their till?

That's a lot of cabbage.

134 Billion? that's a country not an individual.

I may be wrong but aren't T bills tax exempt till they mature and rolled over for cash value? Bonds are usually used to transfer large amounts of money legally? Bearer Bonds can only be taxed when redeemed also! If they were transfering to a bank without redeeming them for security reasons, that is a legal act. They may be legal couriers that don't declare anything till they arrive at their destination. I know, I'm spitballing here but it does look just a bit fishy if they are not working for a legal courier outfit!
Zindo

Sounds like these two men where making their way to Switzerland to either deposit or convert these notes into something else maybe euros or gold.

They must have diplomatic immunity to be carrying that kind of money, unless the Japanese govt wanted to keep this very clandestine, but then how could they not have had body guards who would be instructed to kill or cause a commotion if these men got into trouble.

This is very suspicious so many possibilities none of them intelligent.

If they are legit and working for the Japanese govt then that cant be good for the US dollar.

I edited my first post above to add the link to the origianl post on the recent money market manipulations.


"I know economics can be dull but 134 billion dollars is a lot of money to be hauling around in a suitcase. This has implications for our whole economy and questions the likely devaluation of the dollar."

[edit on 11-6-2009 by SLAYER69]

reply to post by SLAYER69


where's the source that they are Chinese?

curious

reply to post by warrenb


I quantified that by pulling out my tinfoil hat.



Seriously who has the most to gain?
That's the real question.

reply to post by burntheships

I have tried checking sources on this, but if anyone finds this to not be factual then ---pardon me.
Two Japanese trying to get into Switzerland were searched and 134 billion dollars in U.S. bonds were found in a false bottom suitcase.
That is a lot of money. It is reasonable to suppose they were not your ordinary businessmen or even drug lords. That quantity most likely is a foreign government that quietly wants to get their assets out of U.S. dollars and into gold or even Euros. Quietly.
One link----newsusa.myfeedportal.com...
Which leads to another link (newsusa.myfeedportal.com... ) discussing the Fed hiring a former Enron lobbyist to allay fears of any oversight of their greater power over the last year or so. Makes a reasonable person question the role of the Federal Reserve and the possibility that all is not right with that powerful entity. Raises the concern that they need auditing.
That second link has a short video of the Inspector General of the Fed testifying that she does not know where the hundreds of millions in bailout money went.
I know economics can be dull but 134 billion dollars is a lot of money to be hauling around in a suitcase. This has implications for our whole economy and questions the likely devaluation of the dollar.

dailykos.com....



[edit on 11-6-2009 by warrenb]

Originally posted by SLAYER69
They aint Japanese. They are Chinese.
It's all part of a plot to bring down the dollar.
Takes his foil hat out of draw and dusts it off.

I remember a few weeks back a post here on ATS about some rather funny runs on US bonds that threatened the dollars value. I wonder if this is just a part of that plot.

Anybody remember that post?

I cant seem to find it.

´

The Chinese depend on a strong dollar, their exports are mainly to the US, they want you to afford to consume their goods. China has always tried to artificially peg their Yuan to the Dollar. So bringing down the value of the US dollar would be counterproductive, worsening the economic downturn.

Edit:

Maybe china have lost faith in the dollar, just like Russia and are dumping their bills on the market, in small portions though since they dont want to ruin the value of their own holdings.

SÃO PAULO -- Brazil and Russia are set to unload U.S. Treasury bonds as they acquire $10 billion each of new International Monetary Fund securities designed to bolster the institution's aid programs, officials in the countries said Wednesday.

online.wsj.com...

There was an honesty moment when Secretary Geithner was in Beijing University giving a speech. He said, Your investments in a trillion dollars worth of U.S. debt are secure, and the audience laughed at him. It's very un-Chinese to do, to embarrass a speaker in public, but I think it reflected a growing concern in Beijing.

www.foxnews.com...



[edit on 2009/6/11 by reugen]

*post deleted*

$134 billion not same as $134 million duh



[edit on 11-6-2009 by warrenb]

Originally posted by reugen
The Chinese depend on a strong dollar, their exports are mainly to the US, they want you to afford to consume their goods. China has always tried to artificially peg their Yuan to the Dollar. So bringing down the value of the US dollar would be counterproductive, worsening the economic downturn.

First you artificially raise the value of the Dollar that drops other currency values when the dollar is riding high then you buy up the cheaper currencies and then dump the dollar the other currencies sky rocket in value.

Makes perfectly good sense to me.


[edit on 11-6-2009 by SLAYER69]

One other thing I noticed was that the article said they were detained by "Italian financial police". Countries now have "financial police" Makes you wonder what others kinds of police countries have ...

Uh oh. Just saw this. Australia will now have "carbon cops" to arrest people for "climate offenses".

article

[edit on 6/11/2009 by centurion1211]

reply to post by centurion1211


Being so close to the Swiss I'm pretty sure they have had reasons in the past to have such a dept. They got busted first then they were turned over to that dept.
You would need such a dept in order to understand what exactly has transpired.