Two "Japanese nationals" (who may not actually come from Japan) were caught in Italy just as they were about to take $134.5 billion dollars in bonds into Switzerland. Most of these bonds were of such a ridiculously high denomination ($500 million each) as to make them non-negotiable by normal humans.
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Mystery number 1: What did the "Japanese nationals" hope to do with these instruments?
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Mystery number 2: Are the bonds counterfeit or real? If real, Italy stood to gain a windfall -- Italian law allows the government of that country to take 40 percent of the booty.
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Mystery number 3: Why has the American press kept mum about a possible swindle that dwarfs the Madoff affair? The Europeans and the Asians are all over it.
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