-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.22/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.22/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 22 </A> ----- Laissez Faire City Times May 31, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 22 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Fifth Man The Counterfeit Money Caper by Alex Cline Sam Colt smiled as he told the story: "The ‘Ambassador’ stood quietly amazed as he watched the masters working. The Swiss-made presses whirred as the uniquely processed paper was fed into stacks to dry. He had heard from others who took the time to tour the U.S. Mint that it was an awesome experience, but it just never struck home until now. During the morning briefing he had been told that, with current inventory, the presses could produce $200 billion dollars. He felt a tremendous satisfaction at a job very well done! "It had been a long, hard road to get to where he was today, and well worth the effort. But he couldn’t take all the credit. If it were not for his inside contact at the Department of Treasury, the project probably would not have been successful. It was damn near impossible to purchase security presses. When I say security presses, I mean equipment which can produce bank notes and monetary-standards printing. This is a highly sensitive area and requires several sets of checks and balances to keep the criminal element out of the high-grade counterfeiting business. The U.S. Department of Treasury, however had an open line with the manufacturers. So that’s one reason it was vital to have a Treasury employee on the team. "The second reason was very basic. We needed plates. One-hundred-dollar denomination U.S. Treasury Plates. Nothing else would suffice. So the inside man had to be at a level to have access to the plates. The third and fourth requirements from our man in Treasury were the inks and paper. But his responsibility didn’t end there. As in any successful covert operation, it is imperative that it remain a secret, even after the mission is complete. I’m talking containment again. This insider had to clean-up the purchase orders and delivery orders in total. Now I’m not going to tell you who this operative was, but you can bet that he had to be well placed at the Department of Treasury to have unlimited access. I will say that he kinda looked like Clark Kent with thicker glasses! "With the old guard on Capital Hill slowly retiring or dying off, we knew that the Intelligence Oversight Committee would soon require us to report through them more frequently for funds than we had formerly been accustomed. The word out and about was even worse. We would have to have congressional approval for all covert operations before any funding is provided. Well, now, we sure had a problem with that. Have you ever known a politician to keep a secret—other than who he was sleeping with? "I have to agree with their reasoning there Alex . . . and I don’t say that lightly. I say it from personal experience. When we finally decided to invade Grenada, President Reagan called Congress and advised them of the military operation as required by law. Now, here we are sitting in the Caribbean with a strike force poised for an attack on the Cuban-held stronghold on the Island. The primary mover for the force was helicopters, flying low and slow. The only thing we had going was the element of surprise. But some congressman thought that it was inhumane to attack without prior notice: so he called the Cubans and told them when and where we were attacking. I had a friend that died that day—from the 160th Aviation Battalion. There are normally losses in battle, but that captain never would have died had the congressman kept the mission under tabs. But that’s a whole other story. "The fact of the matter is very simple: Politicians all have their own agenda, and it is rarely in keeping with the agenda of National Security. That is why we could not chance the covert operation’s congressional approval process. Now don’t get me wrong, we did, on occasion, request congressional approval on what we consider insignificant operations. But never the major ops. The CIA’s Department of Treasury "So it was necessary for some creative banking. And what better way is there than to start your own ‘Department of Treasury’. The new banking location was already in place. There was only one question that remained. Who would be the CIA’s first ‘Secretary of Treasury’?" Sam paused, and then again continued with a smile. "I can see the help wanted ad now: ‘Management level position with established company. Must be loyal, reliable, and a self-disciplined. Experience in covert operations, congressional scrutiny, and assassination politics a must. The successful applicant will have at least 25 years experience in the intelligence community. Preferences given to ex-CIA Directors.’ "I have to admit, the candidate list was very short. There were only a handful of men alive that could be trusted with unlimited access to $200 billion dollars. But that list was quickly whittled to one man. ‘The Ambassador.’ "The ‘Ambassador’ was an ironic choice for the first CIA ‘Secretary of Treasury’, but it was well-earned. He had spent two administrations sitting on the cabinet with the U.S. Secretary of Treasury. They came, they went. Couldn’t hack the pressures, he guessed. Pressure? Hell they didn’t know what pressure was. At least they had the luxury of running their operation from the plush surroundings of the Treasury Offices. They weren’t operating from a ‘secure’ location in the middle of Tehran, Iran like we had to do. Not to mention the Senate hearings requiring sworn testimony concerning his earlier years as the Director of Central Intelligence. Those guys were on a witch hunt and the ‘Ambassador’ knew it. "The Shah of Iran had been well paid to keep the installation secure. Hell, if it weren’t for the CIA he’d still be exiled. So it was really quite easy to arrange this location with full cooperation from the Shah. We even had the Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, designated as the Crown Prince of Iran in 1967. Reza was to take his father’s title of Shah in the event of his dad’s death. "All the bases were covered. The operation proceeded without a hitch. Funding for CIA Covert and Black Operations was handled from our Iran Site. All was well. Until . . . "Well, who would have thought that a bunch of ill-equipped Iranian revolutionaries could overthrow the CIA’s Iran? We had supplied the Shah with over 6 billion dollars worth of top-of-the-line military equipment—including F-14’s and a couple of battleships!! And trained his troops too! "We certainly thought that the country was bulletproof. There were problems, but that’s just a way of life in the Muslim countries. The leaders lacked compassion and ruled by force. The natives were restless to say the least, but managable—or so we thought back at Langley. "Then it happened. In January, 1979, the Shah fled the country without prior warning and the revolutionaries seized power. But they not only seized power, they seized the CIA’s ‘Department of Treasury’. The Bank was closed. "Our forces were limited and needed at the U.S. Embassy to protect U.S. Personnel. We couldn’t get the assets in place to regain the facility and get the equipment out. If we could just have gotten those plates out, we would have been in a lot better shape. But it just wasn’t in the cards. "The Ayatollah Khomeini was placed in control by February and that’s when the real trouble started. "They (the Iranian Revolutionaries) had to have prior knowledge of the banking operation. I say that because no sooner than they took control of the country, we received a message via courier that they had control of approximately one hundred and fifty billion dollars in uncirculated U.S. Treasury Notes. They threatened to dump the currency on the market if we launched an attack. "Our people in Tehran reported that the money had been moved to a number of undisclosed locations around the city by the revolutionaries for safe keeping. And the presses were rolling. TheAmerican Hostages—and the Money "Now I believe is the time to go a little further on the failed rescue attempt in the desert. Do you recall my statement to you that I made concerning the use of ‘special teams’ in Iran?" As I sat back trying to recall Mr. Colts remarks from the previous day. "You are missing my point Mr. Cline. The story of the failed rescue attempt in the desert is a matter of public record. But I have just revealed to you and confirmed the existence of special teams operating within the hierarchy of the CIA and other governmental agencies. How do you think that the mission I just spoke of could possibly have succeeded without "specialized teams" on-site to assist or cause a diversion. Do you think that six US Military helicopters would have just dropped in on the Ayatollah and seized the hostages, loaded them in the choppers and flown into the sunset? Do the words ‘not a chance in hell’ strike a familiar chord?" I suddenly found myself understanding where he was going with all of this. But, was it possible that the hostage rescue attempt had a dual purpose, one admirable, to rescue American Hostages, and the other on the dark side of covert ops? Sam continued, "It’s simple. We had to recover the money and the plates. Otherwise the Ayatollah could hold us at bay for an eternity. If we attacked, well, he dumps the cash on the marketplace and absolutely destroys the value of the dollar. It would devastate the American economy. "When the military pushed to resolve the hostage situation with a covert military operation, we seized upon the opportunity to provide diversions in Tehran while the rescue was taking place. We knew that the plates and money would mean more to the revolutionaries than the hostages would. And in the event of an offensive, they would send reinforcements to guard the money, leaving the hostages relatively unprotected. It was a great plan, I have to admit—and I’m sure that it would have succeeded. "We had our teams in place...waiting for the go...but it never happened. The military aspect of the operation failed and that put the kabash to our plan to recover the cash and the plates." With that explanation, Mr. Samuel Colt sat back in his easy chair awaiting my questions. I carefully formulated my thoughts. It was time to get some specifics. I recalled reading or hearing an interview in 1996 concerning the counterfeiting of high-grade one-hundred-dollar bills and the involvement of Iran in some manner. My memory was vague, but I recalled a statement by Senator Leahy calling an Iranian Counterfeit operation an act of terrorism. Then there was a statement by Robert Lugar about that same time that said: "Robert Lugar, the former head of government office that prints the real 100s says the high quality printing and paper plus the mysterious source of the supernotes have long frustrated American authorities...." [Robert Lugar’s 1996 statement can currently be found at: http://www.iran-e-azad.org/english/boi/03330123.96.] But the kicker was the answer by U.S. Intelligence: "The American intelligence authorities have told ABC News that late last year the US made covert contacts with Iran to demand a stop to the counterfeiting and the US could be prepared to do more. With one White House official saying that counterfeiting of American currency could be considered an act of war." So, as I formulated my barrage of questions for Mr. Colt, I realized that the threat of military action by the U.S. never came to fruition. Instead we changed the look of the one-hundred-dollar bills, then the fifties, and now the twenties. I recalled Sam’s remarks of the Ayatollah’s promise to dump the money on the market. Many unanswered questions concerning the paper tiger stance and ‘hot air’ policy toward Iran by the U.S. suddenly made sense. Could this bizarre story of the CIA counterfeiting their own money to support their own covert operations possibly be true? And who were the players—the ‘Ambassador’ and Clark Kent? That was the direction I wanted to take the interview. Come hell or high water, I was going to find out who these people really were. "Sam", I started "If I am to believe any of this, you need to share the identities of the players here. A high ranking official from the Department of the Treasury. Would I even recognize the name? And the ‘Ambassador’? Was he CIA? Was he, in fact, at one time a Director? And how has the CIA supported their covert operations since the Iran recovery attempt failed?" Sam sat up as if to speak and held out his hand palm up as if to receive something. "Two-bits," he said, smiling. "That’s the deal. More than one question at a time will cost you two bits." I reached into my pocket and dug out a ten spot and placed it in his hand. "I ain’t even close to finished," I said. "Put this on my account!" Sam looked at the ten-dollar bill and smiled as he flipped it to the back side. "You know, the Department of Treasury has some surprises for all of us ‘civilians’. Those new denominations that they’re making. I’ve been told that a strip imbedded in the bill can potentially track the last few banking transactions involving that particular bill. (I’m not talking about hand-to-hand transfers.) But enough of future-world stuff. "Let me put it like this. I’m not saying that Richard Helms was ‘The Ambassador’. I would never say a thing like that. Nor would I ever admit that William Simon earned his post as U.S. Secretary of Treasury by providing ‘favors’ to the CIA. Nope. To admit such a thing would be very dangerous. Don’t you agree Mr. Cline? So, on the record, let me say: NO COMMENT." I was fulfilled. I had finally broken through and had an opportunity to follow up on real names, dates, and places. As an investigative reporter, it is imperative to have a starting point, and now I had it. I could finally begin my trek into the "Dirty Tricks Department." To Be Continued ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We encourage Internet researchers to research the information provided in The Fifth Man series. Even though it is fiction, you may be surprised at what you can find on the Net. If you have reasonable questions, please feel free to email the author at the following email address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -30- from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 22, May 31, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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