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

[Magda Hassan]

This is from some one called Jhonab a poster on Karl Denniger's Market Ticker Forum. Most intriguing.
http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/ak...225&page=3

"Under Italian law when law enforcement agencies seize fake bonds or counterfeit money they are under the obligation to arrest the bearers. And in order to avoid misappropriation, the agency seizing the material, in this case the financial police, must quickly proceed to its destruction (i.e. incineration).

However, in case of real securities, after the securities holders are identified, the financial police must release them immediately after issuing a statement of confiscation and imposing a fine valued in this case at € 38 billion (US$ 53.4 billion). In this case, why were the two men released right away without any fine imposed?" (Asianews.it, today)

So the Italian media (and the Swiss) cover the story from this angle: If the bonds are real, it would mean a giant money inflow into the ever empty Italian Treasury - it would amount to paying the entire rebuilding after a major earthquake going on right now four times.

But today there is this tiny 'development':
'Another discrepancy is the fact that, along with the securities, original and recent bank documents were seized as proof of their authenticity.'
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&ar....

I have not been able to find the original source for this information about the banking documentation being 'recent'. Asianews called the Financial Guards regional headquarters in Como to ask why the 'bonds' had not been burned, if they were fakes, and why the smugglers had been set free, because this could only happen if the bonds were real. But nobody has called back.

And then you have this twist:

'Swiss Free Ports are a legal "no man's land"

Swiss free ports zones, normally based around airports, operate outside of Swiss government control. Goods entering such zones are not registered or taxed, are not reflected in Swiss import statistics, and are sent to other locations without export duties. While free port zones are part of Swiss territory, they operate outside of Swiss customs control.

Swiss free ports enjoy a level of freedom that others don’t. For example, European Union free ports are subordinate to the customs authorities. As such, they have to keep a detailed inventory of all the goods passing through their hands. That is not the case in Switzerland, where goods can be warehoused for an indefinite period of time.

Most trading in Swiss free ports happens anonymously via 3rd parties. Buyers can examine (and bring experts to verify) goods being sold, but rarely are there any direct interactions between buyers and sellers. Since free ports are not transparent, they may hide illegal activities, such as forged paintings and counterfeit securities. These fake goods must be of high enough quality to fool experts.

The four big Swiss free ports are Zurich, Basel, Geneva, and Chiasso.

To summarize, what makes Swiss free ports attractive:

1) Goods are ready to be shipped anywhere in the world and don’t need to clear Swiss customs before leaving the country
2) Indefinite storage in location outside the jurisdiction of any sovereign nation.
3) Anonymity afforded
4) Avoid/defer taxes because of special legal status.'