2 Japanese carrying $134 bil worth of U.S. bonds detained in Italy

Japan Today ^ | Thursday 11th June, 06:18 AM JST | JapanToday

[Xenophon450]

ROME —

Two Japanese nationals were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian daily said Wednesday. The Japanese consulate general in Milan confirmed that the detention had taken place and said it was trying to confirm with Italian authorities whether the two were indeed Japanese nationals and their identities.

According to the report in il Giornale, two unidentified Japanese in their 50s concealed the bonds, including 249 U.S. Treasury bonds each worth $500 million, in a suitcase with a false bottom that was searched by the Italian authorities June 3 when they were in Chiasso, at the border with Switzerland, about 50 kilometers north of Milan. The daily did not say on what charges they have been detained, but the two may have been detained on suspicion of attempting to take a large amount of securities out of Italy without declaring it because the paper said they had not declared the bonds.

[IrishCatholic]

Out of my depths. But, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Whose money is it?
Who ratted them out?
Who gets to keep the confiscated money?
Anybody out there who can clue in the clueless?

[April Lexington]

I read somewhere recently that the Italian mob is running cash to Switzerland. Something about grocery stores generate lots of cash. They hire people to run the money into Switzerland where friendly bankers are waiting. Maybe the amount is really $134 million and the Japanese guys were just hired as runners because they don't (presumably) look Italian. That would make more sense. But, that's still a lot of dough!

[Big_Monkey]

"Actually, I’d kind of like to hear about Jessica Simpson’s nose hairs!!!

That'll have to wait.

Nothing on CNBC's website except poorly disguised Obama cheerleading.

Digging deeper, I think we may have been scammed. The story is credited to Kyodo News, which is a legitimate and old news group. But, there's nothing on Kyodo's site, just on this Japann Today site. Could be bogus.

[Ken H]

Perfect!

[April Lexington]

Who gets to keep the confiscated money?

Italy may have just solved its budget problems!

[April Lexington]

I'm thinking so. Way too much money. I need sleep. Especially if the global financial system is going to crash tomorrow! Let's see what happens!

[eyedigress]

They didn't do it right....

[SpaceBar]

Nothing on AP breaking either. I would ask all freepers to keep a keen eye on the various newswires and see where this goes.

[Ken H]

You're probably right. $134B is a s___load of loot!

[April Lexington]

Try walking into a Swiss bank with $134 Billion in US bonds in your briefcase. It will raise eyebrows (unless they are expecting you).

[count-your-change]

That sounds like counterfeit bonds being shopped around for sale. The only people that could own that amount of bonds would be a government and they have diplomatic cover so who are these Japanese and where did the bonds come from?

[djf]

POG is liable to go to 10K/oz by next Monday.

For those who think I’m kidding, I’m not!

[Brad from Tennessee]

[But, why sneak them into Switzerland?]

They may have been meeting a buyer. The Swiss financial industry might offer the specific services both parties required to transact their business such as verifying the authenticity of the notes, transferring funds, etc.

[April Lexington]

Maybe teenagers? Nobody in the securities business could get away with this!!!

[dila813]

That is where some of the 9 Trillion that the Attn General for the Fed can’t figure out where it went.

Should have known it would be heading for the swiss.

[April Lexington]

Good point. But why sneak? It is legal to sell bonds (if you actually own them). I’m thinking they were stolen from a hedge fund and Switzerland is where crooks sometimes go to hide money.

[April Lexington]

For those who think I’m kidding, I’m not!

If you're not, then I'm thinking seriously about starting to panic!

[SpaceBar]

Okay, who speaks italian? The story apparently broke on this news agency http://www.ilgiornale.it/roma.pic1?SID=13

[April Lexington]

I would think Italy, Switzerland and the USA would want to spike this story fast. Too many armchair gumshoes (like us) out there who would freak if the story got out. Its either true or false. And, it could be $134 million which is mob sized money. But... the mob usually doesn’t like bonds with serial numbers on them (or so I assume).

[djf]

Couple of the economic blogs I frequent have said recently (like is the last 3 mos. or so) that June 11th was the drop dead date. Didn’t go in to alot of detail, but I knew it had to do with the bond market.