Posted on 08/29/2006 5:57:07 AM PDT by docbnj
A Californian man indicted on charges of smuggling counterfeit dollars into the U.S. testified at his trial that the high-quality counterfeit US$100 bills or “supernotes” were manufactured in North Korea, the National Intelligence Service said Monday. The NIS reported to the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee that the man admitted conspiracy to smuggle the supernotes and admitted where the phony bills were made.
The man is a Chinese-American named Chao Tung Wu, the NIS said. There have been reports in the U.S. media quoting anonymous government officials as saying the supernotes were made in North Korea, but this is the first time the claim was confirmed in legal testimony by a chief suspect.
Again I would remind all (FReepers) and sundry (administration officials who visit FR w/o registering) that counterfeiting another nation's currency is an act of war.
AP: Banks said severing ties with NKorea
Now we just wait to see how Kim Jong Mentally Ill deals with it.
Right. My first thought. This is an act of war.
Exactly, war.
N. Korea has stated that they no longer feel bound by the cease fire.
Think anyone in Washington has the balls to deal with it?
You want to volunteer for a rifle squad on the 38th parallel? I don't intend that as a chickenhawk smear, just let's keep our heads and win one war at a time.
Kim mentally-ill Jong needs hard currency for his luxurious lifestyle and to bribe his supporters. When the Hennessey VSOP dries up, so will his support.
I volunteer to push the button. I volunteer to swim my fat ass down the Yellow? river planting explosives on the bridges to prevent PRC reinforcement. I volunteer to place limpet mines on N. Korean and PRC shipping.
Sadly, I don't know how to do any of that but push the button.
I was in a trailer with actual "the button". In a Pershing battery, there are two buttons, an A-team and a B-team button that need to be pushed more or less simulataneously. Both buttons are in wire cages with an S&G lock. There are about half a dozen people with .45's on their waste in the trailer. If some hot head were to try to "push the button" without authorization, I guarentee you he would have been extremely well ventilated. No one I ever knew who was charged with that responsibility ever wanted to see the day when he would have to "push the button".
Before you were ever in a position to "push the button" you would have had to have gone through a lot of training in the use of release codes, procedures, and been throughly vetted for reliability and mental stability. It's not as easy as it looks on television.
Same guy??:
http://www.fas.org/asmp/campaigns/MANPADS/2005/DOJPR9nov05.htm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2005 For Information, Contact Public Affairs
Thom Mrozek (213) 894-6947
'SMOKING DRAGON' UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION RESULTS IN NEW INDICTMENT ALLEGING SCHEME TO SMUGGLE SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES INTO UNITED STATES
Los Angeles, CA - Using an anti-terrorism statute for the first time in the nation, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles today returned a superseding indictment that accuses two men of conspiring with foreign nationals to smuggle into the United States shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles designed to shoot down aircraft.
The new indictment charges Chao Tung Wu, 51, of La Puente, California, and Yi Qing Chen, 41, of Rosemead, California, with conspiracy to import missile systems designed to destroy aircraft. This statute, which was enacted in December 2004 as part of an intelligence reform package, carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 25 years and the possibility of life without parole in federal prison.
The superseding indictment is the result of Operation Smoking Dragon, an FBI-led undercover investigation into smuggling operations in Southern California. Smoking Dragon and a related investigation in New Jersey this summer led to the indictment of 87 individuals – including Wu and Chen – on charges related to international conspiracies to smuggle counterfeit United States currency, drugs and other contraband into the United States.
In August, Wu, Chen and two others were indicted for allegedly conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and Ecstasy, as well as on charges of importing millions of counterfeit cigarettes. Wu was also charged in a scheme to import "Supernotes" – extremely high quality counterfeit $100 bills – into the United States. Today's indictment adds the charge related to the surface-to-air missiles against Wu and Chen.
The indictment charges that Wu and Chen met with an undercover FBI agent and agreed to arrange the importation of several QW-2 shoulder-fired missiles, as well as the missiles' launch and operation hardware, from another country. Wu and Chen told the undercover agent that a third country would pretend to order the missiles from the manufacturer, but the missiles would, instead, be shipped to the United States in sea-land containers. As part of the scheme, the missiles allegedly would have been fraudulently manifested as "civilian" equipment, such as machine components.
Wu, Chen and unindicted co-conspirators allegedly were to pay bribes to customs officials in other countries to ensure the shipment. One payment was to be a $2 million bribe to an official in a foreign country.
Wu and Chen allegedly traveled overseas on several occasions in furtherance of the conspiracy and gave the undercover agent documents regarding the weapons. The agent received a brochure which described in detail the capabilities of the QW-2 missiles, describing the missiles' targets to include the F-15 and F-16 Fighters, the A-10 Attack
They are not crazy, they just don't care.
Whew! I have none of these N Kor supernotes. That's for sure.
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