Employees of Japan Finance Ministry Arrested in Italy Trying To Smuggle 134 Billion in US Treasuries

The one thing I don't get about this is if the bonds are fake then why on Earth would the Italian authorities give them back the fake bonds, let them go, and then not even find out where they were headed!?!

Why hasn't there been an investigation by the US? I would think they'd want to investigate either way.

And if the bonds are real, then why would everyone just let them go back about their business?!

Have we heard anything from Japan about this?

reply to post by Shadowflux


I think bc it is on the level as monopoly money..

As far as the people getting in trouble or whatever.. that yet remains to be seen and I am not sure about all of that.. yes that is questionable..

I guess there is not enough information to come to a real conclusion here.. but its totally bunk anyways IMO

Originally posted by Shadowflux
The one thing I don't get about this is if the bonds are fake then why on Earth would the Italian authorities give them back the fake bonds, let them go, and then not even find out where they were headed!?!

Why hasn't there been an investigation by the US? I would think they'd want to investigate either way.

And if the bonds are real, then why would everyone just let them go back about their business?!

Have we heard anything from Japan about this?

The bonds are imaginary documents, not forgeries of anything that exists. Like having a real looking $9 bill.

They could find no attempt to use them as lawful tender and there is nothing illegal in just possessing them.

The magnitude if they were somehow real brought it to the media's attention. An extra level of diligence came in verifying with the US Treasury on their status. Since no one had ever seen anything like it, they needed to find out if they were real, forgeries, printing press duplicates of real ones, or just fakes. Also a check of banks to see if these guys had made preliminary arrangements for their depositing.

So a lot of alarm bells on so many national fronts, the US, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, North Korea, the whole world, over a couple of incompetent aspiring swindlers.

Mike

It's just that I'm pretty sure that if I got caught trying to sell fake drugs the cops would not let me go and give me the fake drugs back.

reply to post by Shadowflux


ha..

you would prob. be busted for sure and not given them back, and had the real planted on you..

only in america hahahaha

Originally posted by Shadowflux
It's just that I'm pretty sure that if I got caught trying to sell fake drugs the cops would not let me go and give me the fake drugs back.

Put a large quantity of baby powder in sealed plastic bags and hide them in a false compartment in a piece of luggage.

Depending where you are checked, how you come across, and the mood of the authorities who discover it, expect a variety of treatments.

Some will find it amusing after the lab tests come back. Some won't.

Mike

Financial minds are still on track, and are following this story with focus and determination.

A new article in the OC Examiner has this to say...

Inconsistencies
(1) Although the smugglers have been identified in the press as “Japanese nationals”, there has yet to be any third party confirmations, formal charges made or a release of the culprit’s identities. Asian and Japanese press outlets are reporting the suspects were released shortly after they were detained.

(2) A Bloomberg article regarding this story, the seized bearer bonds allegedly were dated as of 1934. Since bearer bonds in denominations of $500 million did not exist in 1934, the bonds were deduced as fake. The police are still waiting for a declaration regarding the bonds’ authenticity from the SEC. and the populous is speculation how to spend their 40% windfall. Something smells about this declaration. How can the quality of the forged bearer bonds be so meticulous that they “are indistinguishable from the real ones”, yet the counterfeiters are so ill-informed as to not date the bearer bonds appropriately?

(3) Bloomberg reported that there is no known existence of the alleged Billion-dollar Kennedy bonds. This defies any logical explanation. The expert counterfeiters would have made more of the $500 million denomination, indistinguishable from the real thing, instead of making 10 bonds in denominations of $1 billion a piece in a bearer bond never existed?

(4) On March 30, 2009, the US Treasury Department announced that USD $134.5 billion remained in its Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP]. The same amount as the seized bearer bonds was $134.5 billion.

(5) The two well-dressed Japanese men traveled a well known financial smuggling route where them would stick out like sore thumbs, defies logic.

(6) Then we have this June 18 article from the Financial Times, that questions whether the men are really Japanese, as their passports declared, and it is may be the work of the Mafia.

(7) Officials in Tokyo were nonplussed. Takeshi Akamatsu, a Japanese foreign ministry press secretary, said Italian authorities had confirmed that two men carrying Japanese passports had been questioned in the bond case but Tokyo had not been informed of their names or whereabouts. “We don’t know where they are now,” Mr. Akamatsu said. Kyodo News reported on June 19 that the two Japanese men had been released. The Japanese consulate general in Milan said Thursday it has confirmed that two men who were briefly detained by Italian police after attempting to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds were Japanese citizens. The men were released later that day after an Italian lawyer provided fidelity guarantee for them. The Italian authorities continue to probe how the two obtained the bonds and why they were trying to take the fake securities to Switzerland.

(8) The Italians are now saying the forged bonds appeared shoddy and some of them had face values that were nonexistent. The Italian authorities said they wonder why the securities were produced because the bonds cannot be used even for fraud in view of their poor quality. In pictures the bonds appear new, crisp and clean! They were first described as being “meticulous” work and “indistinguishable” from real ones but we are also to believe that they now “appeared shoddy.”

Hold on to your hat for another wild turn. Turner Radio Network (TRN) announced June 20 that it had new confirmed information the two Japanese nationals are in the “employees of the Finance Ministry of Japan.” TRN has now confirmed the two men arrested were trying to secretly dump Bonds as ordered by the government of Japan because the Japanese government feared that the U.S. government would be unable to repay its debts. Despite the assurances from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano that Japan has complete confidence in the U.S. Treasury has confirmed the upon the serial numbers of the Bonds, part of the $686 billion of U.S. debt officially held by Japan.

The last couple of days the Italian press was abuzz with suggestions on how to spend their forty-billion dollar windfall despite the claims the being counterfeit. Under Italian law Italy gets to keep forty percent (40%) of the smuggled bonds. Now TRN reports that the US and Japan are trying to negotiate with Italy for return of the Bonds but because of the astonishing amount of money involved and Italy is refusing to negotiate.

www.examiner.com... s


[edit on 21-6-2009 by burntheships]

Originally posted by GreenBicMan
reply to post by Edrick

 

Well, there is no reason to sell these at .01 on the dollar because you can cash them for face value right now.

Unless you want to sell them to a third party to prevent the news of a MASS sell off of Bonds from reaching other investors.

A public sell off of bonds would reduce the perception of the VALUE of the bonds, and thus would destabilize the value of the dollar... OR would precipitate a mass panicked sell off.

Selling them to a third party for less than face value would give you a return on your investment, and prevent the destabilization of the bond market.

-Edrick

Originally posted by burntheships
Financial minds are still on track, and are following this story with focus and determination.

A new article in the OC Examiner has this to say...

Turner Radio Network (TRN) announced June 20 that it had new confirmed information the two Japanese nationals are in the “employees of the Finance Ministry of Japan.” TRN has now confirmed the two men arrested were trying to secretly dump Bonds as ordered by the government of Japan because the Japanese government feared that the U.S. government would be unable to repay its debts. Despite the assurances from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano that Japan has complete confidence in the U.S. Treasury has confirmed the upon the serial numbers of the Bonds, part of the $686 billion of U.S. debt officially held by Japan.

www.examiner.com... s

Sure, forget about what reliable news sources and common sense tells you. The US Treasury and the Japanese government are now giving their exclusive stories to White Supremacist Hal Turner's Radio Network.

Not mentioned, if the Treasury has the serial numbers on these bonds, which every expert says do not exist in these amounts and paper form, why isn't the transaction done by wire. There is no need or advantage taking them into Switzerland in a suitcase.

Maybe Hal Turner lying again?


Mike

reply to post by mmiichael


That was a very selective quote....ignoring all of the unanswered questions. Do you perhaps work for the MSM or the government?

If not, you would be a perfect fit for either one.

Originally posted by burntheships

That was a very selective quote....ignoring all of the unanswered questions. Do you perhaps work for the MSM or the government?

If not, you would be a perfect fit for either one.

Just picked the most outrageous BS one I saw.

The others were mostly repetitions of already linked stories. Of course, being the Internet, the misinformation will never disappears. Kids not even born will one day be linking to Hal Turner's dopey disinfo and calling it proof.

I'm always fascinated by how stories get twisted and distorted/ The truth getting mangled in the process.

Were I being paid by any media source, I wouldn't been typing messages ot conspiracy websites would I?

Everyone knows what they will think - it's a cover-up. And that not even facts will convince them otherwise.

Wonder if the NWO is hiring?

Mike

Man the title is surreal and the news is even more suspicious. Something is going on. And I have a bad feeling about it.

The Market Ticker has another article by Karl Denninger

Well, just when you thought that the Bearer Bond story was finished, it gets twisted yet again.

Remember, this was the claim:

“They’re clearly fakes,” said Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt in Washington.

Uh, Bloomberg..... how about an accurate quote?

"Based on the photograph we've seen online, they are clearly fake. And not even good fakes," said Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt.

Online? You mean that the Treasury Department hasn't been sent a high-resolution digital photo of what was seized? A week after the fact?

I don't believe you Stephen.

In the last two years, Italian authorities have seized some $800 million of U.S. bonds in the Como area in northern Italy.

Those would be real bonds, I assume? But I thought Stephen said....

He added that there is only $105 million in Treasury bearer bond securities outstanding, so the $134 billion amount seized far exceeds the universe of outstanding securites.

Wait a second...... $800 million in real bonds have been seized, but there are only $105 million outstanding? There may be some confusion here as to whether all these bonds are "bearer" instruments or not, but even if not, a registered paper bond is worthless if stolen, as its purchaser is known and before anyone is going to redeem it for you they're going to verify not only its authenticity but that you're the rightful owner.

And he said his BS alarm is going on...yeah mine too!
market-ticker.denninger.net...

It doesn't end there:

If what Meyerhardt says is true, some major financial institutions have been deceived by the securities carried by the two Asian men. This would be a bombshell and raise serious questions as to how many bank assets are actually made up of securities that for Meyerhardt are “clearly fakes.”

If counterfeit securities of such high quality are in circulation the world’s monetary system, let alone that of the United States, is in danger. International trade and exchanges could come to a halt.

[edit on 22-6-2009 by burntheships]

reply to post by Edrick


There is still no point to this brother...

Its not like there is a report that goes to the media when someone mails or hands in a bearer bond

This goes back to the point that THESE BONDS NEVER EXISTED which makes this whole argument/thread totally bunk as I have been saying..

What are you going to do with that much cash anyways? Just reinvest it in treasuries most likely lol!!

reply to post by Shadowflux


Well this angle on the 134 billion bond story is still gaining momentum...

Gerald Celente is now on the bandwagon...and has an article up on his website...

It turned out that the 2 Japanese arrested few days ago smuggling $134 Billion in US bonds are employees of the Japan Finance Ministry , Japan was definitely hoping to dump some of its old US Bonds on the black market in Switzerland , just on a personal note , I know that border between Como Italy and Ponte Chiasso Switzerland very well , for having crossed it thousands of times in both directions . These employees of the Japanese Finance Ministry really lack of professionalism to say the least , they were probably just hoping in good luck to make it to the other side , which does not always work . The Japan Finance Ministry really showed his lack of creativity and professionalism and lack of the knowledge of the terrain , just the fact to hope that giving 134 Billions to two Asians in the heart of white MittelEuropa and hope that they would not raise suspicions is laughable , not to mention that the route chosen to smuggle in this case Como Chiasso reflects total lack of knowledge of the area . Probably the Japanese Finance Minister spends his time drinking as it is shown in the clip bellow during the G8 meeting ...

geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com...

[atsimg]
files.abovetopsecret.com...[/atsimg]

In the photo below, the piles of Bonds which appear to have a cash-like top have a face value of five hundred million dollars each ($500,000,000) and the smaller Bonds at the bottom right of the table are "Kennedy Bonds" with a face value of one billion dollars each ($1,000,000,000)

The total face value of the bonds shown on the table below is one hundred thirty four billion dollars.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/779b7f99870d.jpg[/atsimg]

Another problem..

I have been doing some reading and supposedly these were issued in 1934.

The only problem being the USA never issued these denominations at that time, and also THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS KENNEDY BONDS.

Lets just let this die..

reply to post by GreenBicMan


Hi GBM...you do not have to visit this thread...
Thanks for the laugh!

I am not going away...

reply to post by burntheships


ok, i wont

i just don't like to see misinformation being thrown around continuously around here, apparently others see differently

take that as you will, im done on this thread then, bye

The Motley Fool, today. June 24, 2009.

The Pandoras Box Is Now Open.

Despite assurances from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano about Japan's "absolutely unshakable” confidence in the credibility of the U.S. dollar, it is now confirmed based upon the serial numbers of the Bonds, that the $134 Billion is part of the $686 billion of U.S. debt officially held by Japan.

caps.fool.com...

Originally posted by burntheships

Despite assurances from Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano about Japan's "absolutely unshakable” confidence in the credibility of the U.S. dollar, it is now confirmed based upon the serial numbers of the Bonds, that the $134 Billion is part of the $686 billion of U.S. debt officially held by Japan.

Of course the source is Turner Radio.

forget the Financial Times, London Tomes, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. who are inside the loop.

The Japanese govt and US Treasury are mainlining to Hal Turner

He probably knows how bonds that were never printed by the Treasury have matching serial numbers and why they weren't transferred electronically.

The real news is the press is carrying almost as much misinformation as conspiracy sites.

The Roswell aliens will be cashing in their Trillion dollar bonds any day.




[edit on 25-6-2009 by mmiichael]