Mystery bond conspiracy theory letdown

That $134 billion in smuggled Treasuries? Counterfeit, says the U.S. government

Published June 19, 2009 3:04PM (EDT)

The case of the smuggled $134 billion Treasury bonds?

Consider it closed.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Authorities said they found 249 certificates worth $500 million each and 10 bonds worth more than $1 billion each, as well as other alleged original banking statements.

Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt, said Thursday the paper is phony.

"Based on the photos we've seen on the Web, they're not even close to looking like a Treasury security," he said.

Thankfully, we can be sure that a mere declaration of forgery by a Treasury spokesperson will do nothing to stop the universe of mystery bond conspiracy theories from expanding endlessly. I give it a week before both the 9/11 truthers and the Obama birthers get involved.

UPDATE: The most detailed story yet comes from the Financial Times. The Italian Mafia are now considered possibly involved.

Excellent.


By Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21.

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