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Supernotes: A New Generation of Counterfeit Money
Las Vegas Now ^ | Nov 3, 2006 | George Knapp

Posted on 11/03/2006 10:31:30 AM PST by KeyLargo

George Knapp, Investigative Reporter Supernotes: A New Generation of Counterfeit Money

Nov 3, 2006 09:31 AM

Las Vegas casinos have always been a target for counterfeiters who think they can slip a few homemade bills into the mix and no one will notice. Most of the bills are detected. But not anymore.

A new generation of so-called "supernotes" has been slipping past the most advanced detection systems. That's because the alleged counterfeiter is a foreign government.

It can be argued that any government that counterfeits the currency of another nation has committed an act of war. In the case of the supernotes, the prime suspect is North Korea, which is also believed to be engaged in other criminal acts, including large-scale methamphetamine production, not to mention its brazen nuclear weapons program.

The fact that not even Las Vegas casinos can spot the phony money is proof enough that these counterfeits are as good as the real deal.

Satellite photos can't tell us what goes on inside a non-descript building in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, but it's believed that the so-called "Office 39" is the hub of a counterfeiting operation that produces an estimated $100 million a year in bogus American currency. In particular, $100 bills that are so perfect they've been dubbed "supernotes."

The bills have been circulating internationally for more than a decade and have helped to prop up North Korea's rogue government, including its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. Secret Service has nabbed close to $50 million worth of supernotes, which are distributed through compliant banks in Macau by North Korean diplomats, Asian crime lords, even Islamic terrorists. It was probably inevitable the supernotes would end up on the streets of Las Vegas.

Paul Masto, acting director of the Las Vegas office of the Secret Service, said, "There's so much money in play, it stands to reason the counterfeiters come to town and figure they're going to blend in."

The United States Secret Service's History of Counterfeiting

Masto can't talk about supernotes. He can't even use the term. The situation with North Korea is so volatile that officials in Washington have told the Secret Service to refrain from further comment. Masto can only speak about it in generalities.

"We believe it is state-sponsored. We have an ongoing investigation for several years now. It poses extra problems for us because the grade and quality is so good and it goes through the initial steps of detection," he continued.

Masto can't say how many of the supernotes have been found here, but it's more than anywhere else in the U.S. Las Vegas always ranks at or near the top of cities where counterfeiters pass their phony bills. The Secret Service here receives up to $70,000 per week in funny money.

Each of the phony bills gets catalogued and packed in an evidence vault. All of the bills that arrive here were passed somewhere -- through a casino or business -- even though a lot of the counterfeits are very low quality. The Secret Service holds regular seminars to teach locals how to spot funny money, which makes Las Vegas one of the toughest places anywhere to pass a counterfeit.

But supernotes are different. Casinos the I-Team contacted don't want to talk about it on the record, but industry sources say the bill validators used in most gaming machines do not catch the supernotes. Masto acknowledges that most aren't spotted until they get to the Federal Reserve, which has advanced equipment.

For anyone but the government, it's pretty much impossible to tell the difference, even under magnification. The security strips and watermarks are the same and the paper is the same. The counterfeiter even used the same high-tech press that our government uses.

Megan Ross, U.S. Secret Service employee, said, "If I was at a bank and put it under a UV light and looked rather quickly at it, I would assume that's genuine."

In some ways, the supernotes are even better than the real thing. For instance, on the back of the bill the hands on the clock of Independence Hall are sharper than on a genuine one hundred dollar bill.

More than 170 people have been arrested worldwide for distributing the supernotes, including one suspect busted in Las Vegas last year. Defectors from North Korea have described the counterfeiting operation in general terms, but no one knows for sure how many of these sublime fakes are out there in circulation. If you turn one in and it turns out to be phony, you eat it unless it can be traced to the source.

Paul Masto said, "The high quality notes, it's more difficult to go back and find out who passed it."

Next year, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will issue a brand new version of the $100 bill. It will mean the counterfeiters will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for new high-tech presses.

One other note, about 10-percent of the bills sent to the Secret Service in Las Vegas as possible counterfeits turn out to be genuine. They are returned to the person who sent them in.

The Secret Service field offices hold many seminars for locals on how to spot phony money.

Visit the Secret Service's "How to Detect Counterfeit Money" Web page to learn about some telltale signs.

Send your comments to Investigative Reporter George Knapp at gknapp@klastv.com


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: counterfeiting; currency; northkorea; superdollars; supernotes
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To: Yo-Yo

Don't tell me, let me guess, you're heavily invested in bags and cargo pants, right?


21 posted on 11/03/2006 11:35:31 AM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: John Semmens
If we had stuck to the Constitution's requirement that only gold & silver could be money, counterfeiting would not be a big problem.

That was only a limitation on the states, not the federal government.

22 posted on 11/03/2006 11:39:13 AM PST by Dog Gone
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To: John Semmens
All of the gold ever mined is valued at $3 Trillon as of April 2006.

There isn't enough gold and silver in the world to go back to the gold standard. That was true in the 1920's when we were taken off the gold standard.

23 posted on 11/03/2006 11:45:50 AM PST by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: Old Professer
Bags and cargo pants?

No, I normally cash my paycheck each month and pay cash for my mortgage, car payment, insurance payments, utility bills, etc.

I wish they'd bring back these babies:


24 posted on 11/03/2006 11:51:01 AM PST by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: MaDuce
[ don't need some Gov't thug storing that data for some future confiscation or persecution. ]

Rinos and Democrats don't believe the federal government HAS THUGS,,,

25 posted on 11/03/2006 11:57:23 AM PST by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole.)
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To: TWfromTEXAS

Please read my post again. I was pointing out the drawbacks to tracking money.


26 posted on 11/03/2006 12:00:36 PM PST by Yo-Yo (USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
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To: Jack Black
 I think this is a good analogy for the downward trend of our culture. If anyone had suggested that the government print $2 bills, or even $10 bills (the equivelent of todays $100 bill) they would have been laughed at.

Nicely said and more importantly, true.

27 posted on 11/03/2006 1:25:59 PM PST by zeugma (I reject your reality and substitute my own in its place. (http://www.zprc.org/))
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To: Yo-Yo
You wrote: "All of the gold ever mined is valued at $3 Trillon as of April 2006. There isn't enough gold and silver in the world to go back to the gold standard. That was true in the 1920's when we were taken off the gold standard." I don't see the connection. We could establish the standard as whatever we want. We clearly can't do $20 an oz. Any I assume your $3 Trillion is based on the $600 average price lately. To set the new price for gold we could take what ever amount of new money we felt we needed (and it would be a good time to retire a lot of debt by not making it convertable).

According to this chart M1 is about $1 Trillion. M0, which is what we really need is even less. Call it $500 Billion. (total SWAG). There are 147 million ozs of gold in Ft. Knox (according to the first site on the google seach - again this is back of the envelope stuff) 500,000,000,000 dollars divied by 147,000,000 = a gold price of $3,400 an oz. So one dollar in the NewGold exchange rate would equal 1/3000 th of an oz. That's too little to coin, but so what.

28 posted on 11/03/2006 10:08:34 PM PST by Jack Black
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To: Yo-Yo

Sorry. I got carried away and didn't read clearly. My apologies. The election has me extra tense. Hope it's over soon.


29 posted on 11/03/2006 10:10:32 PM PST by Jack Black
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To: Red Badger

Cool.


30 posted on 11/03/2006 10:11:01 PM PST by Jack Black
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To: Yo-Yo
I wish they'd bring back these babies:

Minga, that thing doesn't even have an overlay over the green seal! That's the only way to see that 95% of the paper money is actually fake.

31 posted on 11/03/2006 10:23:56 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: KeyLargo
One of the ways to find counterfeit money is the serial number. It is cheaper to print the same serial number on the note than to change each note. High end color copiers can detect and will not copy several nations bank notes. The fastest high end detection equipment that I worked with has been made in Germany and Japan.
32 posted on 11/03/2006 10:30:59 PM PST by ThomasThomas (Red is good)
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To: Yo-Yo

Note the disclaimer or whatever on the bill.

"This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private, and is redeemable in lawful money at the United States treasury or any Federal Reserve bank"

I have a fifty from the early 1950's that says the same. And actually, that law is still on the books, I think it's USC Title 12 somewhere.

But the only "lawful" money anymore is Federal Reserve notes, so it's a nullity.


33 posted on 11/03/2006 10:36:39 PM PST by djf (I'm not ISLAMOPHOBIC, just BOMBOPHOBIC!! Whether that's the same is up to Islam!!!)
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To: ThomasThomas
One of the ways to find counterfeit money is the serial number

OK...How bout this...On the face on the righthand side the green "star seal" is overlaid by the black denomanation printed. Color copiers pixilate the overlay where the green meets the black and you end up with pixels either black, green, or background when they should be black/green or some combo. In my area 95% of all paper is some grade of counterfiet...ABCDE.

34 posted on 11/03/2006 10:54:00 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: ThomasThomas

You sound like you are some-what knowledgable in this feild. 95% of the paper money in WNY is fake. Is there anything I should do about it? It all passes but it's all made on color copiers of varying quality. I think the treasury MUST know about it by now...it's been going on for at least 6 years since I noticed it and I'm just an idiot. I don't even bother telling people about it since no one cares.


35 posted on 11/03/2006 11:19:14 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: Dosa26

Oh this is the first time I've mentioned this in open forum...I hope I don't dissapear, but if I do so be it. I stand by my statements. 95% of the WNY money is printed on color copiers.


36 posted on 11/03/2006 11:34:15 PM PST by Dosa26
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To: Dosa26
I worked on counterfeit detection equipment a few years back. The best counterfeits even banks don't have the equipment to detect, only the feds. So the best thing an individual can do not to get stuck with them is to know the real stuff. what money feels like and what it looks like. When I was working around cash much of the counterfeits were found this way. They might even not know whats wrong at first just it wasn't right. I don't use cash very much and never have any bill larger that a twenty. This party because being around cash I knew how disgustingly dirty it is.
37 posted on 11/03/2006 11:49:43 PM PST by ThomasThomas (Red is good)
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To: ThomasThomas
The best counterfeits even banks don't have the equipment to detect, only the feds.

This is what I'm talkin bout...We don't make money on color copiers in this country correct? 95% of the paper that is passed is made on copiers in WNY. The tell is very specific and very idendtifiable. On the grean seal on the righthand side of the face the star with the printed denomanation the black and green pixilate on a copier as opposed to dies. 95% false! What am I suppossed to do? The treasury must know by now. It passes, but it bothers me. I should probably just shut up.

38 posted on 11/04/2006 12:03:24 AM PST by Dosa26
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To: KeyLargo

After the cease fire in Lebanon. Hezbollah was passing out wads of 100 dollar bills to the residents. I wonder where they came from.


39 posted on 11/04/2006 12:11:50 AM PST by dancusa (For liberals there is no end to their rights and no beginning to their responsibilities.)
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To: KeyLargo

If U.S. notes were printed on paper made from food, North Korea wouldn't be able to produce them. ;-D


40 posted on 11/04/2006 12:17:23 AM PST by piasa (Attitude Adjustments Offered Here Free of Charge)
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