In Banana Grove In Argao: $3 Trillion in US bank notes found

Real or fake, their face value is staggering — three trillion U.S. dollars. And the circumstances in which they were found were mystifying.

Yesterday, residents of sitio Prenza, barangay Talaga in Argao discovered a virtual treasure trove in the middle of a banana grove, a bronze-colored wooden trunk full of U.S. federal bank notes amounting to a total of $3 trillion. Curiously, a bronze cylinder inside the trunk also contained a rolled up document that purports to be a copy of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement ending World War I signed in 1918 between the Allies and Germany.

The residents said the trunk, whose cover bore the American Bald Eagle, the national emblem of the U.S., was carried into the banana grove by a Caucasian who was naked from the waist up and who drove away farther south in a red Mitsubishi Pajero.

At first the residents tried to open the trunk but failed. Fearing it might contain a bomb, they reported the matter to barangay officials who, in turn, told the police.

According to Argao police chief Teodolfo Manatad, the trunk measured 27.3 inches by 10 inches and stood 14.3 inches high. Inside it were 13 sealed compartments.

Of the 13 compartments, two were partially open, giving the police an idea about its contents.

Police officer Eduardo Semilla told The Freeman it was a pedicab driver who first saw the Caucasian man carrying the trunk and leaving it inside the banana groove. The pedicab driver, who was not identified in the police report, tried to load the trunk onto his pedicab but found it too heavy.

He tried to ask a neighbor to help him but the neighbor got scared, thinking it might contain a bomb, so they ended up reporting it to barangay councilman Rodrigo Miranda who then passed on the information to barangay captain Danilo Jumao-as. Eventually Jumao-as informed the police.

Police officers Von Tecson and Rey Antonio Saga came to check and brought the trunk to the Argao police station.

Cebu provincial police director Senior Superintendent Carmelo Valmoria rushed to Argao on being informed of the find and, together with Manatad and the barangay officials, inspected the trunk.

The trunk bore the following markings: “ Serial No. D.OOOOOOO4A; Security Code No. 0004-24; Public Department No. D44-DA; Master Control No. D4-44-4-4-4; and Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio Series 1934. “

Valmoria told The Freeman that they assumed the bank notes to total $3 trillion because of a cover note that said that was the total amount of the notes inside the trunk.

He, however, refused to say if the bank notes were authentic or not.

In all, what were seen in the partially open compartments were 12 bank certificates, 12 “ Gold Reserve Act Certificates, 11 insurance certificates and 11 “ Gold Bullion Certificates. “

The other compartments contained 200 “ U.S. Federal Bond Interest Coupons. “

In a bronze cylinder police found a small piece of rolled paper that said it was the “ Treaty of Versailles. “

Valmoria said police in Cebu do not have the technical capability and expertise to determine the authenticity of the contents of the trunk and have thus informed the U.S. Embassy in Manila to request that it verify the find.

Valmoria said Dante Orate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advised him to send a sample of the bank notes to the U.S. Secret Service so the verification can be made.

Meanwhile, police regional director Chief Superintendent Ronald Roderos is expected to have the remaining eleven compartments opened before the media tomorrow at Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. ( /JST )