$134 billion of US bonds seized.......

[dr.pepper]

.....from two Japanese citizens trying to enter Switzerland:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&am...

bloomberg said:

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japan is investigating reports two of its citizens were detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland.

“Italian authorities are in the midst of the investigation, and haven’t yet confirmed the details, including whether they are Japanese citizens or not,” Takeshi Akamatsu, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said by telephone today in Tokyo. “Our consulate in Milan is continuing efforts to confirm the reports.”

An official at the Consulate General of Japan in Milan, who only gave his name as Ikeda, said it still hasn’t been confirmed that the individuals are Japanese. “We are in contact with the Italian Financial Police and the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office,” Ikeda said by phone today.

The Asahi newspaper reported today Italian police found bond certificates concealed in the bottom of luggage the two individuals were carrying on a train that stopped in Chiasso, near the Swiss border, on June 3.

The undeclared bonds included 249 certificates worth $500 million each, the Asahi said, citing Italian authorities. The case was reported earlier in Italian newspapers Il Giornale and La Repubblica and by the Ansa news agency.

If the securities are found to be genuine, the individuals could be fined 40 percent of the total value for attempting to take them out of the country without declaring them, the Asahi said.

The Italian embassy in Tokyo was unable to confirm the Asahi report.

I wonder exactly these guys were trying to achieve? They can't have been secret agents as the concealment method was far too primitive.
There's even talk of the money being used to deliver an international ransom......

Edited by dr.pepper on Friday 12th June 17:19

[Oakey]

dr.pepper said:

.....from two Japanese citizens trying to enter Switzerland:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&am...

bloomberg said:

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japan is investigating reports two of its citizens were detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland.

“Italian authorities are in the midst of the investigation, and haven’t yet confirmed the details, including whether they are Japanese citizens or not,” Takeshi Akamatsu, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said by telephone today in Tokyo. “Our consulate in Milan is continuing efforts to confirm the reports.”

An official at the Consulate General of Japan in Milan, who only gave his name as Ikeda, said it still hasn’t been confirmed that the individuals are Japanese. “We are in contact with the Italian Financial Police and the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office,” Ikeda said by phone today.

The Asahi newspaper reported today Italian police found bond certificates concealed in the bottom of luggage the two individuals were carrying on a train that stopped in Chiasso, near the Swiss border, on June 3.

The undeclared bonds included 249 certificates worth $500 million each, the Asahi said, citing Italian authorities. The case was reported earlier in Italian newspapers Il Giornale and La Repubblica and by the Ansa news agency.

If the securities are found to be genuine, the individuals could be fined 40 percent of the total value for attempting to take them out of the country without declaring them, the Asahi said.

The Italian embassy in Tokyo was unable to confirm the Asahi report.

I wonder exactly these guys were trying to achieve? They can't have been secret agents as the concealment method was far too primitive.
There's even talk of the money being used to deliver an international ransom......

Edited by dr.pepper on Friday 12th June 17:19

Fined 40% huh? Hell, I'd give them 50% so long as they let me in!

[Rollin]

That's a big fine. Why search them? They must have been looking shifty and sweating a lot.

[Martial Arts Man]

$134 Billion????

Er, that's just a little too much money for nobody to know nothing about this.

Who, if anyone, on Earth has access to that sum?

There is more to this than meets the eye, I suspect.

[Hoolied]

Martial Arts Man said:

$134 Billion????

Er, that's just a little too much money for nobody to know nothing about this.

Who, if anyone, on Earth has access to that sum?

There is more to this than meets the eye, I suspect.

Maybe they mean $134 mirrion. The accent can be confusing sometimes...

[FourWheelDrift]

Martial Arts Man said:

$134 Billion????

Er, that's just a little too much money for nobody to know nothing about this.

Who, if anyone, on Earth has access to that sum?

There is more to this than meets the eye, I suspect.

They've got all the money that's gone missing during the economic crisis. I knew someone must have it.

[mybrainhurts.]

That's one set of baggage you don't want to let BA handle...

[ianash]

$134bn, that's the equivalent of all Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Paul Allen's total forune and then some. They have just got to be forgeries. But how do you negotiate a $500m bond without it's origin being checked.

[Pesty]

Was it Don Johnson again?

[Oakey]

The Italians are already planning how they'll spend it!! Bet Brown's gutted, that'd help his recession problem a bit

[Mclovin]

would be funny if the bonds are real, their printing big time in the us.. brown is small pototoes compared to geitner...

http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=1138