Federal agents have issued arrest warrants for two con artists who tried to run a scam that required a magician’s sleight of hand. U.S. Secret Service special agents say the gambit was a variation of the “Black Money Scam,” in which the con artists demonstrated that they could turn banknote-sized paper into cash by washing it in chemicals with real money.
The suspects are identified in federal court documents only “Alex” and “George.” The duo came to the attention of the U.S. Secret Service on May 5 after the owner of an Adams Morgan business reported that the two men with West African accents had approached him with a way to make counterfeit money, according to an affidavit in support of the arrest warrant.
On May 26, the con artists met with an undercover agent in a Holiday Inn in Arlington that Secret Service agents had secretly set up to record video and audio. Prosecutors said the men would convert $400,000 into $3 million.
This is how the Black Money Scam worked, according to the affidavit:
The co-conspirators display a $100 bill and place it between two pieces of identically sized white paper that had been imprinted on a copier with images of $100 bills that shows up under ultraviolet or “black light.” Generally, the con artist says the paper has been whited out to avoid detection at customs.
The scam artist then pours a chemical over the white paper and the $100 bill that turns the pieces of paper and $100 bill black. The bills are placed into a tin foil, and stepped on for several minutes. When the tin foil is opened and papers are “washed” in another chemical solution that dissolves the black dye and, suddenly, there are three $100 bills.
Authorities said the two new $100 bills were slipped secretly during the demonstration.
“In reality, it is not possible to produce legitimate U.S. currency using this process,” the affidavit states.
That’s only the half-way mark of the scam. The con artists then convince the victim to provide a large amount of cash to be placed into a container to be washed. The scam artist tells the victim that the process will take several hours, and promises to return later when the process is complete.
The container is left with the victim as security.
When the scammers fail to return, the victim usually opened the container to only find black construction paper cut to the size of dollar bills.
