Peru becomes center of counterfeit U.S. cash

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Originally published Monday, September 14, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Peru becomes center of counterfeit U.S. cash

A flood of high-quality counterfeit U.S. money from Peru is perplexing federal authorities, who say the shadowy networks that are responsible are also engaging in other criminal activity that poses a threat to U.S. security.
By Josh Meyer
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — A flood of high-quality counterfeit U.S. money from Peru is perplexing federal authorities, who say the shadowy networks that are responsible are also engaging in other criminal activity that poses a threat to U.S. security.

Over the past year, authorities and banks have recovered at least $7.8 million in fake U.S. notes across the United States that they believe were manufactured in Peru, according to Secret Service statistics.

An additional $446,280 in fake U.S. cash from Peru was seized before it was spent during that same period, and more than $18.2 million more during raids in Peru, the Secret Service said.

"And that's just a fraction of the notes that we can ally to Peru," worldwide, said John Large, the assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Criminal Division at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. "It's a form of economic terrorism."

Besides costing U.S. citizens and businesses millions in losses, Large said the international counterfeiting rings undermine confidence in U.S. currency. That is especially the case in countries in South America and elsewhere that have "dollarized" economies, in which U.S. bills are accepted as an official form of currency.



Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009860706_counterfeit14.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. IT"S ALL HUGO"S FAULT!1!!11

Thought I would start the lunacy that is coming. :)

[dipsydoodle]

3. lol

:rofl:

[Hawkowl]

2. Bernake

I think it is simply Bernake pursuing quantitative easing by other means. What's the diff between the Fed printing up money to give AIG, GS and BOA and some counterfeiter giving money to the peasants? Oh..... I get it now.

[Psephos]

4. Meanwhile, the US has become the center of a tidal wave of genuine printed cash

Keep those presses rollin' guys. More and more and more money, a tsunami of fresh-printed greenbacks, all trying to buy the same goods and services.

But don't worry about inflation, no way.

:crazy:

[dlfuller]

5. false flag?

Hmm It's been a while since I have seen the M1 number published, I think. Could this be a ruse to help explain massive currency inflation? It's not that WE printed too much currency, it was the dirty counterfeiters.

[FarCenter]

6. Preliminary estimate for August was $1650 billion

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/Current/

Probably about 1/2 of the M1 money supply is currency.

[Peace Patriot]

7. "It's a form of economic terrorism." Aw, come on.

"'And that's just a fraction of the notes that we can ally to Peru,' worldwide, said John Large, the assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Criminal Division at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. 'It's a form of economic terrorism.'"

When are our G-men going to stop with the hyperventilation? It's counterfeiting. It's an ancient, time-honored scam. It's thievery. It's a crime. BUT IT ISN'T TERRORISM, for godssakes!

And, anyway, Peru is the very darling of our corpo/fascist rulers--one of the few countries with leadership corrupt enough to buy "free trade for the rich." They're shooting indians on behalf of multinational miners and timber corps. We should be proud. And we should welcome their fake dollars. They're only imitating Uncle Sam's corporate pals. It's the new US motto: Loot everybody. Donald Rumsfeld said so: Freedom = the freedom to loot. So there. Get used to the blowback.

:patriot:

[The abyss]

8. Actually old cartoon news.

This “counterfeit” claim comes up in cycles. Check back for old news stories pre & post Iraq invasion.

This legend gets a boost whenever the US stock market goes through an odd/unexplained buying spree or when the rest of the world ain’t buying our T-Bills. Or perhaps only – when writers begin to question the odd purchases?

The history of this type of story goes back to the post WW11 stories of hyper-inflation and the Axis powers supposedly trying to subvert the currencies of the Allied nations during the war years. Supposedly there was just this ton of cash floating around, all real cool stuff, bank notes, bearer bonds, municipal bonds, etc that were just too perfect for normal banking industry to identify.

[Peace Patriot]

9. Interesting. Hadn't realize what a history there is to this issue. Thanks! nt