Posted on 06/30/2007 7:08:39 AM PDT by Brainhose
Russian tried fake $100 bill
By Susan Nolan snolan@seacoastonline.com June 29, 2007 6:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH, NH A Russian man attempted to pass off a phony $100 bill at the New Hampshire State Liquor store shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, according to the store manager, who said a cashier discovered the bill was bogus.
No arrest was made, according to police, but the incident was the talk of the store because Russians are known to be staying in the city ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's scheduled visit with President Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine, on Sunday.
Liquor store manager Mike Smith said the man, accompanied by four other Russian men, attempted to purchase two bottles of Scotch whiskey with the bum $100. The cashier used a special pen to mark the bill to test its authenticity.
"It turned a color that it's not supposed to, and when he saw that, he grabbed the bill back and left," said Smith.
Portsmouth police received a call from the liquor store that the man and his friends were on foot, headed to the nearby Holiday Inn. Police responded to the scene. A dispatch message on the police scanner said diplomatic immunity might be involved.
But Police Lt. Dante Puopolo said that diplomatic immunity was not invoked because police did not make any arrests. "We have no evidence of any kind," he said. "We don't have the $100 bill."
However, he said there are currently Russians staying in town who are entitled to diplomatic immunity. "Their version of the secret service are staying here in Portsmouth," he said. Putin will arrive at the Pease Air National Guard Base on Sunday en route to his summit with Bush.
Approximately a dozen Russian men were congregated in front of the Holiday Inn shortly after the incident Thursday night. One said he spoke no English but indicated he was there in connection with the Putin visit. The men went into the Holiday Inn shortly afterward.
Pooty-poot landing at Pease ex-AFB? Plenty of megatons were ready to leave from there on a reciprocal heading, once upon a time.
Probably got them from thei buddy Kim Il Jung.
Billions and billions of oil money from us.
Cheap bastards.
The phony bill passing only re-inforces the stereotypic image as caught in a few Hollywood movies. What was the name of that movie where a Ruskie sub strands itself off the coastal town, a few Russian sailors try to pass themselves off as regular townsfolk, an a little kid gets saved from falling from a building in the end? I think Alan Arkin was in it.
There’s most likely a mountain of bogus bills in Russia.This was just a probe,use your people with diplomatic immunity so nothing can be done about it when caught.
‘’The Russians are COming, the Russians are Coming’’. Starred Brian Keith, Carl Reiner and Alan Arkin.
My first thought.
When he gets to the U.S. he tries to use the the $100 bills the bank gave him, and finds out one ot the bills he was given is counterfeit. Half-wit bank teller back in Moscow doesn’t know real American money from counterfeit. Hell, I’ve known American bank tellers who can’t tell the difference.
Punchline of the story: people on Free Republic who are as dumb as the bank teller try to make this into a Communist Plot.
It's the old clinton trick: "There is no evidence (because I shredded it)."
Once clinton made me conscious of this little example of verbal parsing, I find myself noticing it all the time.
I doubt that.
Why did they run away?
That’s the one.
Why, those rascally fun loving huggable communists!
(speakin of both Russian and Ed Asner Hollywood types).
If I was in a store and was told that my money was counterfeit, I don't think I would grab it and run away. Though once I had thought about it for a second, I would probably wish I had!!
Why did he grab it back and run away with it ? I guess he just thought he would put it in a savings account ?
He most likely knew what he was doing.
Portsmouth is a pretty nice town, the little I saw of it during a long weekend of visiting a college bud and consuming large quantities of lobster, steak and Sam Adams.
It was the weekend of Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, one of the hottest locals could remember, so the ice cold sammies were strictly therapeutic!
On FB-111's that required in-flight refueling.
We are not supposed to change the headline from the article
You admit you would have done what he did if you thought about it, so why be surprised he did exactly what you would have wanted to do?
I don’t know what they call the agency that handles Presidential security, but I bet this will be a source of merriment to everybody until hell freezes over. “Hey remember when Boris tried to buy booze in America with American currency and it was counterfeit?”
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