Italy Completing Probe of $116 Billion of Fake U.S. Securities

[maddezmom]

Italy Completing Probe of $116 Billion of Fake U.S. Securities
Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Elisa Martinuzzi and Sonia Sirletti

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Italy is completing a probe into the $116 billion of allegedly fake U.S. Treasury bonds seized near Milan in August, the second batch of phony U.S. securities intercepted by the country’s police in less than three months.

The Italian finance police will present its findings at a press conference today. The bonds were discovered on Aug. 19 at Milan’s Malpensa airport. In June, police seized $134 billion of fake U.S. securities at the border with Switzerland. Prosecutors have yet to conclude a probe of that seizure.

Two non-Italians were arrested in the August case, the police said, without identifying them. The U.S. Secret Service has been analyzing the bonds to determine whether they are counterfeit. Had the notes been genuine, the pair would have been the U.S. government’s sixth-biggest creditor, behind Russia, which is owed $118 billion.

“Whatever way you cut it, $116 billion is a big chunk of change,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. “It may not have any major effect on interest rates over the long-haul, but it could certainly have a short-term impact on trading.”

more:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=axQHQfCUfOcM

[DCKit]

1. K&R because people have been asking about this. n/t