How are the fake “super dollars” that deceived the world for two decades

The the fake was so perfect that even the experts of United States Secret Service they were able to determine first if what they had in front of them was real dollars or a copy. It was only after a sophisticated forensic analysis that they were able to confirm that they were fake.

They had the same high tech color changing ink as real US dollars. In addition, they were printed on a paper with exactly the same fiber composition as the originals: three quarters of American cotton and one quarter of linen.

the pictures The engravings were, to say the least, finer than those produced by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing. A small variation, then the New York Times, revealed that they were not original.

The United States was very alarmed that the counterfeits were passing through banks undetected, because no one could tell the difference. These “Super dollars” circulated in various parts of the world in 1990 and 2000.

During these years, the United States decided to change the design of its banknotes twice. US $ 100But the counterfeiters have managed to adapt. Appears in Denmark, France, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Czech Republic and Ireland. Also in Russia. For years they were a headache for the fbi.

They weren’t aware where they came from or who produced them. And it would take one covert operation of more than eight years to start making arrests. The first were in California and New Jersey, after federal investigators discovered various mailings of these invoices in Southeast Asian ships.

Those arrested had links to international criminal networks But the FBI had long suspected something bigger was going on.

The counterfeits were not made by petty criminals or highly sophisticated criminal cartels, but by Government of North Korea, US authorities have said. Again and again these bills have appeared in the hands of North Korean diplomats, perhaps to increase the income of the country, which had suffered from a series of famines and the collapse of its partner, the Soviet Union.

However, North Korea denies any accusation to be involved in the printing of counterfeit money.

“The North Koreans have denied being involved in the distribution and manufacture of counterfeits, but the evidence is overwhelming that they are, ”he said to New York Times the Deputy Undersecretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Department of the Treasury, Daniel Glaser.

“There is no doubt about the involvement of North Korea,” he said. Other authorities called the bogus “a serious attack on the US monetary system.” However, one of the priorities of the FBI was to stop the circulation of these banknotes on American soil.

The arrival of “super dollars” in its ports was linked to the smuggling of cigarettes and drugs. The agency has devised a dual plan to attract the greatest number of criminals involved in the plot: a fake marriage and divorce party at the Playboy mansion.

It worked, and they were made 87 arrests in total. But it is believed that a small number of counterfeit super dollars they are still in circulation today.

BBC Mundo