Evening star., 1932-11-27

is another clew counterfeiters often
leave behind.
Since 1929 no less than 10 counterfeit
ing rings organized like big business
houses, with separate units for manu-
facture, distribution and sale of their
products, have been uncovered by Secret
Service agents in New York alone. In
none of these instances has the success
of the Government attack been due to
any intelligence displayed by the victim
lied citizenry. Alan G. Straight head
of the New York bureau, makes it q
rule to trace each spurious note back
as far as possible from the innocent man
who Is left holding the bag but rare Is
the instance when such work leads to a
professional passer.
No better example of the organiza-
ton of counterfeit gangs is on record
than that Of the international ring re-
Sponsible for the B-27723486A $40 Fed
eral Reserve Bank of New York note
which was broken by Federal agents in
Brooklyn and Queens last Fall after six
months work. In that ring the engraver
of the plates for the bills was kept total
ly in the dark concerning the location
of the plant and the identity of the men
who purchased his engraved counterfeit
plates for 81 500. He was even booked
for execution after the first bills were
printed, but was spared because he was
needed to engrave additional serial num-
bers for the plates.
THE engraver, who was captured after
the Secret Service agents discovered
the resemblance between the engraving
on his personal card and the work on
the counterfeit notes, wrote out a 81
page confession involving one, printer.
The latter also confessed, but he had
merely taught a member of the gang
how to handle the counterfeit press.
Each time the printer was driven to the
plant he was blindfolded, so he, too,
proved valueless as an aid to the Gov
eminent.
But one slip betrayed the ring; they
had not covered up their tracks when
they bought ink supplies. Agents 10
Gated the plant through this clew, and
by watching the plant they spotted a
member of the gang who took the plates
home at night. When it was ascertained
beyond the shadow of a doubt where
the plates were, raids were made stimuli
taneouslys on five Offices of the ring
throughout the United States
Weeks after the seizure of these plates
the same bill with another serial
number appeared in large quantities in
Europe. More than $5,000,000 had been
lost through distribution of the B-277
series, but today the Government police
are working on the job of locating the
last few wholesalers connected with the
ring who are issuing the same notes with
a different serial number (A-119933216A)
printed by the ring to be used after the
public had been warned of the B-277
note.
Counterfeiters and forgers work hand
in hand. A ring seized by Brazilian po-
lice for forging Brazilian passports was
found to have b en- engaged in manu-
featuring large quantities of Uncle
Sans half dollar and 25-cent coins, with
glass centers and thin castings of care
fully fashioned lead foil. Men serving
time in Federal penitentiaries for coun-
terfeiting usually have long records Of
forging everything from stock certifi-
Gates and naturalization papers to
postage stamps and theater tickets.
AS long as the public persists in ham
ding money carelessly, counterfeiting
will continue to flourish. Secret Service
records tell the story of one Manhattan
merchant who personally accepted three
poor counterfeitS of the same sort on
three separate occasions or the same
day. few innocent citizens even at
tempted to pay their Federal income