Police in Philippines seize billions in counterfeit U.S. bonds The Associated Press 2/19/01 10:22 PM

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine police and U.S. officials seized billions of dollars in counterfeit U.S. Federal Reserve bonds the southern region of Mindanao, officials said Tuesday.

Police Superintendent Nestor Gualberto said his officers and staff from the U.S. Embassy arrested a Filipino man in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro with the falsified U.S. bonds along with German and Argentine bonds with a total value of about $2 trillion.

He said the Argentine bonds seized totaled $1.6 billion in counterfeit Argentine pesos, while the German bonds totaled $4.7 million.

Officials did not immediately disclose the denominations of the bonds nor the quality of the counterfeiting. There was no immediate comment from the American Embassy.

Gualberto said the raid on the house also found an original metal box from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

"During the raid, my men were assisted by members of the U.S. Embassy and Secret Service," Gualberto said. He said one man escaped from the house during the raid and police seized a firearm belonging to another.

"We know they were selling some bonds to very curious buyers -- businessmen in the area," Gualberto said.

Cagayan de Oro, 500 miles southeast of Manila, is in the southern region of Mindanao, which is torn by at least three guerrilla uprisings.

Two Muslim separatist groups are fighting to carve homelands out of the region, while communist guerrillas are fighting to overthrow the government.

Strife in the poverty-stricken region also makes it home to kidnapping and other crime.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0630_BC_Philippines-Counterfe&&news&newsflash-international

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 19, 2001