Funny money

I wonder what a US$1 million dollar note would look like. Maybe it looks like this?

It's incredible, isn't it, the lengths that confidence tricksters will go to in order to fool people with counterfeit money. And it's also incredible that enough gullible people will get taken in every day. Well, I suppose if people do continue to get conned by scams, they'll believe in anything.

Anyway, the long arm of the law has caught up finally with this international fake. He claims to be richer than Warren Buffet but nobody knows where his wealth came from. He once pledged to donate RM1.04 billion to the National Cancer Council but question is, did the NCC really see the money?

It was revealed yesterday that he was arrested earlier this week in a hotel along busy Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur with a leather bag containing 60 pieces of “US$1 million” bills, 60 pieces of “US$100,000” bills and 40 pieces of “US$500” bills which all added up to US$66.2 million.

All funny money because you see, there are no such denominations in US currency. The highest legal banknote used currently in the United States is the US$100 note. There used to be a US$500 note issued in 1934 and which still has value. However, it can only be traded in the US Federal Reserve. The US$500 Federal Reserve Note features a portrait of President William McKinley.

The problem with fakes like Elie Youssef Najem is that there will always be people foolish enough to believe him and fall for his fakery and empty boasts. Just do a Google search for Elie Youssef Najem and see the results pour in. In particular, read this. He's wanted everywhere! What a trail of fakery, trickery, cheating and debt.