Show o 0 e t ft 1 t r h r P A U rn ln Up the n e Q DE E jIt i i I A u 1 t 0 rT f i U MONEY MONEYMAKERS M RS 11 I i Ij g W 11 c ih t y I J g ti Y r l M 1 t 1 t. t Of t 1 1 fl 4 t tJ J ir r 4 1 I K f f 1 i V J I ft IW I I 1 j 1 I. I 11 i j. j W rOn r- r I I ii I 1 On the e Trail Trall o of the le Counterfeiter With Wit Joseph A. A Palma Chief o of the e United States J t I Ir 5 t t. t i iB t r li 1 Secret Service Agents in to New York Who Reveals Something I i iY 1 B Bv By C Carol I B. B Bird d df J Y ara Ir r f f DEER and Clean Vi These are arc the terms terras for counterfeit counterfeit counterfeit coun coun- and genuine money employed by those familiar with bog bogus s currency These knowing ones ar are aro in two classes the counterfeiters and United States Secret Service men who hunt them down Every once in a while queer money begins to flood the country appearing in many of the large cities almost simultaneously and then the Secret Service men start operations for or banks J discover the bogus notes or or the counterfeit counterfeit counterfeit counter counter- feit stuff is detected when it arrives at atthe atthe atthe the United States Treasury The Government Government Gov Gov- 1 agents start searching for the themen themen ther r men and frequently the guilty women for counterfeiters often use the services of women as passers of the spurious money A short time ago a big counterfeiting gang was rounded up in New York after I seven months month of investigation by United States Secret Service men headed byi by i Joseph A A. A Palma principal operative in inti inch ti ch charge rge of the New York district in co coI cooperation cooperation co- co I operation with officials of the Royal d. d Canadian Mounted Police The leader of the gang and the chief counterfeiter was r 48 years of age and a resident of Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Eliza Eliza- beth N N. J. J He pleaded guilty before United States Commissioner in Elizabeth and was committed to the Essex County jail in Eliza Elizabeth eth in default default default de de- de- de fault of bail Ho He confessed that by an an ingenious photographic process which he had originated and which differed from any method employed employed employed em em- by y other counterfeiters he had m made de and caused to be distributed be between between be- be 4 a tween and worth of ot bank notes in the United Unite States and Canada Like all other counterfeiters he f had his gang his assistants in inthe inthe the making of the queer mone money Yr K 4 his chief buyers wholesalers and N passers He had an elaborate well ap ap pointed p printing r ri i n t tin I n g plant set up in the attic of his home in t Y Yit it Elizabeth When the j leader was arr arrested sted one night in New NewYork NewYork P r rin York City he had in his possession eleven even counterfeit 1 1 0 o 00 0 4 bills and readily admitted admitted admitted ad ad- that the jig t was wag up H He then a j l led d t the e agents agents to L his home in m New r Jersey and the theother 1 t a other th er fi five ve members of the band were picked up in different different different differ differ- ent parts of the city At the Elizabeth Elizabeth Eliza Eliza- beth home it was found that the leaders leader's year old crippled sort soot was his chief assistant in making the bad money or f rather good in the sense that it was made made with great skill and ingenuity Only experts in the detection of 4 queer money could pick his manufactured bills from a pile of clean money when both 4 were shuffled together so great was his i artistry And even some of the experts r were fooled ti r HIS IS engraving plant was equipped 1 with the finest paraphernalia and aft after r the up round-up a truckload of material material material ma ma- including several everal big cameras thirty seven plates and a magnificent camera lens valued r at 1000 1000 was carted away from his home where he did the counterfeiting by photography There were many unusual features connected with this particular round roundup First of all the method was straight J p photography The plates used were sensitized sensitized senti sen sen- ti glass plates Usually counterfeiters counterfeiters counterfeiters counter counter- use a method known as the photomechanical photomechanical photomechanical photo photo- mechanical process Another carefully thought-out thought detail and a new feature was the of the Treasury numerals numerals nur nu nu- r an and seals Instead of retouching f them with a blue tint and brush these S counterfeiters used an imported blue paper which they sensitized and printed through artificial light The 1 finest pen strokes were used in the effort to duplicate the silk fiber used in gent genuina genuine gen gen- t nine uina- bills An additional odd feature in connection with the case was the attitude attitude attitude atti atti- tude of the leader of the gang when arrested Palma commented on this at ats at's athis athis s 's his office in the Custom House while discussing the case PALMA ALMA has trailed counterfeiters allover all allover over The country and knows about all n their little tricks but admitted th that t 1 the gang which he just rounded up sprang a few new Dew ones on him The Secret Service chief was perfectly willing to discuss this c case and case and several t other interesting ones which he had handled handled and and was mouthed close-mouthed only r when it came to methods employed But obviously he has very excellent reasons 55 for withholding this information so those interested will have to conjecture I i i 1 i kA R 11 U of the Manners and Modus Operandi Operand of Those Who Thinly Think AB Jl 1 just how operatives in the Secret Serf Serf- ice go about their sleuthing On the walls of Palmas Palma's office were frames containing of bills of various denominations and they all looked clean but all came from the mints of counterfeiters Palma sat at athis athis athis his desk and riffled through a stack of and bills a pile pHe which looked large enough to pay pay the interest on OD the national debt They look genuine dont don't they he asked They are especially deceptive when new After they have been in circulation circulation circulation cir cir- cir cir- for a while and are worn by handling the fraud is more easily de de- de I think the most peculiar circum- circum r Se SeS S fl 4 Z w- w wS r. r S A magnifying glass often discloses discloses discloses dis dis- dis- dis closes the counterfeit which escapes detection of the naked eye In the etching Joseph A A. A Palma in charge of the N New NewYork NewYork v e York district of the Federal Secret Service is shown examining examining examining ex ex- q queer u e e r m money 0 n e y through a magnifying glass stance in this last case was the attitude of the criminals In most of our cases the men bewail the fact that they have been caught that they will be disgraced and jailed But the leader of this crew was indifferent to his arrest He He simply bemoaned the fact that he was caught before he had had time to clean up a fortune in his illegitimate profession The seriousness of his crime did not bother him in the least He also re regretted regretted regretted re- re the fact that he had turned over of the queer money to a confederate confederate confederate con con- federate in Canada for which he had hadnot hadnot hadnot not received a nickel nicke Which proves there isn't always honor among thieves The counterfeits turned out by the head of this gang consisted of five ten twenty fifty one hundred and five hundred hundred hundred hun hun- dred dollar notes of the Federal Reserve Bank flank issue twenty fifty and one one hundred hundred hundred hun hun- dred dollar notes of the gold certificate issues and five twenty and fifty dollar notes of the National Bank issue Thirty-seven Thirty sets of plates for the reproduction reproduction reproduction re re- re- re production of seventeen distinctive notes were captured in all in this haul of paraphernalia The counterfeit notes were passed in New York Detroit Chicago Chicago Chicago Chi Chi- cago and Montreal After the bills are made the counterfeiter counterfeiter counterfeiter counter counter- feiter delivers them to a buyer who re resells resells resells re- re sells to another man who in turn turns them over to passers The deals are negotiated on a percentage basis One man might get 35 cents on the dollar dollar dollar dol dol- dol- dol lar another 65 cents and the passers 20 per cent The leader of this band sold the queer money to his chief buyer at 22 cents on the dollar The passers passels are the men and women whose job it is to put the money into circulation by making purchases purchases' with them at the large arge stores S They Can Fool Uncle Sam With Spurious Coin and Bank ank Note fJ I f Cupid played a role in this last bogus bogus- note case but it was rather a sorry one for the little barefoot boy When the chief buyer of the counterfeit m money ney was arrested he begged to be p permitted to go home under guard the following day as his engagement party was scheduled for that time He was to be married soon he explained All the guests had been invited and an orchestra orches orches- tra engaged He somehow felt that he the bridegroom be bridegroom to be was necessary to this particular social function but the Government operatives couldn't agree with him So somewhere in New York Yorka a to bride-to-be was d disappointed when her fiance failed faHed to arrive for the the important event I l H A S r i J I r. r i S li liE E 1 Y 0 wl Sr r r ri 1 I. I i r rry ry p r. r r yr r 0 y f rr f SY J rr 4 1 r i f vY i itt tt ARi f p j l a r 4 iJ In the Elizabeth N. N J. J home of a counterfeiter arrested recently was found evidence of a new and ingenious method of counterfeiting bills and among the articles seized was a camera lens valued at 1000 This plant had turned out about before Secret Service men caught him Where do counterfeiters learn their illegitimate trade How do they become familiar with the art of duplicating genuine genuine genuine gen gen- bank notes In this particular cas case the counterfeiter had been in in th the jewelry business in New Jersey with his hs brother rother The firm went into bankruptcy and the jeweler was at a loss to 1 know 00 how to provide his family with the comforts and luxuries to which they had become ac ac- In his j jewelry business he frequently had had occasion to photograph photograph photograph photo photo- graph jewelry for catalogues and became be- be became became be be- came quite an expert It was costly to have these photographs photograph made so he decided decided decided de de- to buy equipment and reproduce the pictures himself He had been doing this for a number of years and when he failed in business somehow his mind turned to counterfeiting as a rich get-rich- quick profession When he set up his engraving plant it was equipped with the finest nalia He used sensitized plates powerful powerful powerful pow pow- erful reflectors and the g gelatin process of bringing out impressions He used the best paper wh which ch he printed by means of a hand roller and an imported camera with exceptionally wonderful lens which alone cost about 1000 1000 It Itis Itis Itis is considered by those who made the arrests the most complete supply of ingenious ingenious ingenious in in- genious counterfeiting material materia ever seized in a plant for the manufacture of bogus money Th The Tha tip abo about t the new Dew counterfeiting I I t rt t i to r 1 F H iI iIa a W F fl gang was received almost a year ago from Major E. E J. J Phillipe of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the denominations de denominations denominations de- de nominations of the bills in distribution then were from 5 to This was the supply sold to the Canada confederates by the New Jersey counterfeiter One sensational case handled not Jong long ago by Palma centered about veritable wholesale counterfeiters There were about twelve Italians figuring figuring fig- fig in this case cas explained Palma They lived in Brooklyn and manufactured manufactured manufactured five ten twenty fifty and one hundred hundred hundred hun hun- dred dollar notes There were twelve principals arrested in the big raid but prior to that throughout the district we had arrested about fifteen persons who were passers of this money We found that th this s group of twelve enterprising counterfeiters had organizations including including including ing fifteen or twenty passers who worked on a percentage basis In each gang working In in this extensive counterfeiting counterfeiting counterfeiting counter counter- outfit there were several women The agents who shadowed these women found that they very readily got goton goton goton on to the art of passing and would usually visit lingerie shops exchanging the bogus bills for finery At the time of the raid the plant located at Flushing avenue was captured captured cap cap- and the plates and in in five ten fifty and one hundred dollar bills were seized This crowd put out about before we caught them and we wey y 1 J Lg p oJ c f 1 1 L U I. I had the queer bills floating in from every city of any size throughout the country This crowd too cut the profits three ways Sometimes the man who makes it sells it for about 30 cents on the dollar to the wholesaler who sells it to the head of the ring for 45 cents on the dollar and the head of the ring gives it to the ordinary passers who receive about 20 or 15 cents ON NE of my most interesting cases involved involved involved in- in a famous counterfeiter who had been a fugitive from justice for counterfeiting twenty-dollar twenty notes five years prior to the time that I took charge of the New York district When I started work on the case this man and his assistants were living at Jamaica Long Island an and were making ten dollar bills and cent 2 postage stamps He was much surprised when he was caught and taken into custody for he had changed his appearance and his name A According cording to his own statement which was later verified by international national correspondence correspondence correspondence cor cor- and records he had been counterfeiting in virtually every civilized country in Europe This counterfeiter started in making queer money at the age of 15 at which time he was a process plate man for a newspaper in m Russia After counterfeiting counterfeit counterfeit- ing for some time in Russia he went to Italy and France and counterfeited there but he always managed to escape He I I S. S t t i i X r. r Uj J 1 fID I t hf r I L Photo engraving engraving engrav engrav- ing plays a large r x J part in the method of counterfeiter counterfeiter counter counter- r the h e modern feiter and raids are constantly Q disclosing new methods of making spurious money r went to England and nd operated there a short time Then romance entered his hia H He life and with it came regeneration fell deeply in in love with a beautiful young Englishwoman he met and married her He adored her was devoted to her and good woman and because because be because be- be because she was a cause he respected her and her influence upon him was uplifting he quit his bis illegitimate illegitimate illegitimate ille ille- profession and started in to hv live differently and decently The couple had two daughters and for fora a number of years th the small family lived happily and contentedly The mother and daughters idolized the father and he make them in turn did everything to happy Then one dark day the mother who had proved such a good influence in inthe inthe the counterfeiters counterfeiter's life was taken se seriously seriously seriously se- se ill m. She died and he was plunged into despair His loss was overwhelming Deprived of the companion who had helped him to walk the straight and narrow he sank back into his old ways So that his path would be clear he sent his two charmin daughters to the |