The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-04-30

The most gigantic counterfeitinj
plot in the history of the country hal
been broken up by the arrest in New
York city and other large centers O.
nearly 100 counterfeiting chiefs, a.
well as the arrest Of hundreds o
agents Of the fake money ring. Be
tween $1,OOO,OOO and $1O,OOO,OOO IL
/ spurious money was dumped into the
trading martS of score of nations
before the arrests, however. Bogus
money has been reported from as far
away as Egypt, according to reports
to Joseph A. Palma, chief of the
United States secret service squad
which has been investigating the situa-
| ton for the last eight months.
The widespread circulation of the
counterfeit was due partly to its use by
counterfeiters to buy liquor and drugs
from bootleggers and smugglers of mar
cotics, and partly to its passage by q
band of men and women who toure d
!, the country in automobiles, getting rid
of considerable sums Of the bogus
money in every city they visited.
RingIeaders Are Caught.
ne ScCISl StlNlCc operatives AIC
confident that the ringleaders are now
in custody, and that nearly 1000 mem
bers Of the gang who actually passed
the money, or acted as agents and
lookouts, will soon be caught. More
than 600 arrests already have been
made. The ring was developed along
business lines, with retailers and
wholesalers, and then the manufactur-
ers Each section worked separately,
and the makers of the bogus money
never met the retailers, all transac-
tions being made by liaison officers.
Mr.. Palma said that he did not be-
lieve the counterfeiting gang had any
direct connection with either the boot
leggers or the drug smugglers, but
thought that the latter were victim
lied by the counterfeiters. Both the
bootleggers and drug smugglers he ex-
planned, are lawbreakers, and the
counterfeiters found it easy and con
sidered IT safe to buy liquor and drugs
with the "phoney" money, relying
upon the fact that the victims were
also violators Of the law to prevent
them from making complaint Newly
tins for the passers Of the counterfeit
money
The places in New YORK city raided
by the operatives contained immense
loot, according to Mr.. Palma They
were stocked with bundles containing
hundreds of thousands Of dollars Of |
spurious money, thousands of dollars,
worth of postage stamps, fake whisky
labels, revenue stamps, bogus coins,
and memoranda. Engraving boards, |
presses moulds and dies were also
taken
The main Office of the counterfeiters |
was found to be in an Italian res
taurant in New York's famous Green
wich village. Nine branch offices were /
discovered in Brooklyn, New Jersey, (
Long Island and other nearby placer
These places we're guarded by an elab-
)rate system of guards and lookouts,
and 1t was only after months Of "a
lent work that the government agents
we're able to penetrate the lines and
irrest the men said to be higher up"
Sold in Wholesale Lots.
Secret service agents, who posed - I
'riminals during the long investigation
II the plot, found that the largest dis
ributors sold the counterfeit notes for
2 cents on the dollar In WHOLESALER
OTIS, while the smaller distributors dis
,Osed Of them at so cents on the dollar
n retail quantities. The agents said
hat when they bought the spurious
money for II cents on the dollar they
box fhc
Bogus gold coins, together with the
quipment for making them. were also
eized by the federal agents. The coun-
are believed to have turned
0 the manufacture Of spurious gold
oins after the bootleggers, already
stung" by faxed paper money. began
emanding specie for their Illicit wares.
TWO Children Arrested.
The investigation began with the ar
est In Detroit Mich, of two children,
gmund, fourteeas years old and Freda
,ossi, eight, Who assea IL spurious
Ote. Their father dhif mother. now
CRYING sentences, were placed under
rrest. andsthyoueh them the first faint
lews leading to The nationwide plot
ere discbs1E44
Mr.. Palma, then working In Detroit,
as told to select his own secret serv-
q operatives and run down the. coun-
regardless OF the amount Of
mo or money needed. Then began
. long chase after the 'lawbreaker1
ANY times the agents could have ar
'sted as many - ten Of the passers
the bogus money. but to have done
} would have warned those higher I
, and aided them to escape.
Led to Many cltles.
The trail OF the counterfeiters led
many cities but always the showers
the queer kept ahead of the
tents, 50 far as the chief counterfeit 4
8 were concerned. The net drewI