Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

'Serpent Pastor' Dies of Snake Bite Mack Wolford believed faith compelled him to face the risk »

More Crime & Courts Stories»

Smugglers Caught Sneaking $134B in Bonds Out of Italy

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 12, 2009 3:57 PM CDT

(Newser) – Two Japanese citizens were detained last week after allegedly trying to take $134 billion in undeclared US bonds from Italy to Switzerland, Bloomberg reports. Both countries are investigating the incident. “Italian authorities are in the midst of the investigation, and haven’t yet confirmed... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

3 comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

'Serpent Pastor' Dies of Snake Bite

Miami Face-Eater Identified

Bloomberg (Source Grid »)

Crime & Courts • Money • World

crime • Italy • Switzerland • bonds • securities • Japanese

More Newser Stories

Facebook Plea for Missing Twins

Girls, 6, last spotted sobbing on Corsican ferry

(NEWSER) - A heartsick Swiss mother has turned to Facebook in a plea to the public to help find her young twin daughters, missing since they were snatched by their suicidal father. Alessia and Livia Schepp, both 6, were last spotted crying on a ferry to Corsica with their dad after he had taken them from the home of his estranged wife last week, reports the BBC . He later killed himself after throwing himself in the path of an oncoming train in Italy. More»

$134B Bond Fraud May Be Mob Handiwork

US, Italian authorities blame organized crime for huge counterfeiting

(NEWSER) - The counterfeit bonds with a face value of $134 billion seized near the Swiss border are probably the work of the Mafia, say Italian and American secret services. The mystery surrounding the suitcase stuffed with fake US Treasury bonds deepened yesterday, after a blog revealed that police had released the two smugglers. They were carrying Japanese passports but may not actually be citizens. "We don't know where they are now," an official in Tokyo told the Financial Times. More»

$134B in Bonds Seized in Italy 'Clearly Fake'

US debt office tells conspiracy theorists to calm down

(NEWSER) - Conspiracy theorists, take note: The US bonds seized near the Swiss border with a face value of $134 billion "are clearly fakes," a Washington spokesman tells Bloomberg. Most securities are now issued electronically, only about $105 billion in bonds have yet to be surrendered, and the "Kennedy bonds" found on the two detained Japanese businessmen don't even exist. Had the bonds been genuine, the men would have been the fourth-largest holders of US debt. More»

$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam

Italy arrests men with enough US bonds to buy a few countries

(NEWSER) - Last week, Italian authorities detained two Japanese men attempting to cross the border into Switzerland carrying a suitcase stuffed with $134 billion in US bonds. The men are either massive counterfeiters or—even scarier—the fourth-largest creditors of the US Treasury, with enough cash to buy three or four countries. If the bonds are real, writes Bloomberg columnist William Pesek, "the US risks losing control over its monetary supply on a massive scale." More»

Police Grab $6 Trillion in Phony US Bonds

Crooks wanted forgeries to buy plutonium: Italian paper

(NEWSER) - A minor crime averted in Italy: Police seized $6 trillion in phony US Treasury bonds that a criminal network reportedly planned to use to buy plutonium. Cops grabbed the fake bonds at a Swiss trust company in the city of Potenza, they said yesterday. US experts identified the forgeries and eight men were arrested on charges of counterfeiting, forgery, and loan-sharking, Reuters reports. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Smugglers Caught Sneaking $134B in Bonds Out of Italy

crime • Italy • Switzerland • bonds • securities • Japanese

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Facebook Plea for Missing Twins

Girls, 6, last spotted sobbing on Corsican ferry

$134B Bond Fraud May Be Mob Handiwork

US, Italian authorities blame organized crime for huge counterfeiting

$134B in Bonds Seized in Italy 'Clearly Fake'

US debt office tells conspiracy theorists to calm down

$134B Suitcase Could Be Huge Smuggling Scam

Italy arrests men with enough US bonds to buy a few countries

Police Grab $6 Trillion in Phony US Bonds

Crooks wanted forgeries to buy plutonium: Italian paper

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?