How Do You Get $134B Into One Suitcase?

That’s exactly what Italian authorities asked of two detained Japanese men arrested on a train from Italy to Switzerland who were caught with $134 Billion in undeclared US Treasury Bills. Maybe what they should have asked is, ‘So are you married? You know, I’ve got a daughter about your age…’ But this plot goes a bit deeper than that….

What do you say to two guys who put their hands up after being caught with what amounts to the Gross Domestic Product of New Zealand? It turns out that after close inspection from US Secret Service, the men were carrying what are most likely extremely high-quality fakes in a false-bottomed suitcase. Whether or not the two men are actually Japanese, as their passports declare, is under suspicion as well.

The Italian police is blaming the Mafia for the bonds scam, which they say has been has been going on for years. But for some strange reason, after the June 4th incident that has only come to light in the last few days, an Italian blog has quoted a Colonel in the Italian financial police as saying that the two men have since been released. If you get caught bringing a gram of cocaine into Taiwan, you’d be lucky to see your family ever again. Why are these two on the loose?

[Via Financial Times]