Public warned vs fake US treasury bonds

MANILA, Philippines - The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police is warning the public to be very careful in buying US treasury bills and US gold bullion certificates.

Agents of the CIDG are still tracking down members of a large syndicate believed to be behind the manufacture and proliferation of fake US treasury bills, dollar bills, and US gold bullion certificates.

Last Thursday, agents of the CIDG-National Capital Region led by Chief Inspector Jacinto Malinao and Inspector Rommel Macatlang arrested a suspected member of the syndicate in an entrapment operation.

Aside from the fake $100 bills, police also seized from Benjamin Ilagan,56, 10 bundles of fake $1 million bills amounting to $1 billion; fake US treasury notes worth $1 billion and fake gold bullion certificates in $1 billion denominations, worth a total of $3 billion.

According to Macatlang, prior to Ilagan’s arrest, the CIDG received a tip from an informant on the alleged counterfeiting operation.

Macatlang said the CIDG first conducted a “test buy” and bought one $100 bill from Ilagan for P1,000. After the test buy, the CIDG, through the undercover asset, arranged to buy 19 more fake $100 bills for a total of P19,000.

Macatlang said Ilagan first wanted to conduct the deal at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City. Later however, he wanted the deal done at his room at the Copa Businessmen’s Hotel in Pasay City.

After the entrapment was made, CIDG agents barged into the hotel room and proceeded to arrest Ilagan.

To the agents’ surprise however, instead of just finding the fake $100 bills, they also saw a large brass box that bore the engraving “Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.”

Inside the chest were small metal boxes that contained the fake treasury notes and the fake gold bullion certificates which were each marked as “Treaty of Versailles Series of 1928 Department of Treasury, Washington DC USA Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Illinois.”

A closer inspection of the chest also revealed that it contains a metal capsule that contained what appears to be a copy of the Treaty of Versailles written in parchment.

“The chest and the documents it contain really look authentic. It could easily fool anyone. The public should really be careful in dealing with people who offer to sell them US treasury notes and gold certificates,” Macatlang said.

Macatlang said the chest was so well-crafted that even the two padlocks securing it looked genuine and even bore the seal of the US Federal Reserve.

Macatlang said the chest and the documents it contain were all later identified as fakes by the US embassy.          – Mike Frialde