Taking Revenge by Fake Cash
The U.S. Secret Service and Georgian Police are probing into an international counterfeiting ring capable of producing thousands of fake dollars. The location of the printing press is South Ossetia, the breakaway republic of Georgia, The Washington Post reported yesterday. South Ossetia called accusations entirely ludicrous.
By strange coincidence, The Washington Post released its exposing article just in time of inauguration of South Ossetia’s President Eduard Kokoity.
The U.S. Secret Service first spotted fake dollars of unknown origin far back in 1999; the given code was c-21558. Investigation gained momentum in summer of 2005, when the police stopped a car of Tbilisi resident Nana Jabelashvili en route from South Ossetia’s capital Tskhinvali to Gori. The police found $350,000 fake bills of c-21558 in the car, The Washington Post said.
In January of 2006, Georgian investigators reached Eter Kashmazova, an official of South Ossetia’s Trade Ministry. Kashmazova had a series of meetings with some Ukrainian businessman (who was a Georgian undercover officer), willing to acquire fake dollars worth $1.5 million. One of their get-togethers in Tbilisi Sheraton Hotel was recorded. Kashmazova was detained January 31, when she brought a trial bundle of $10,000 in fake bills.
So far, Tskhinvali has rebuffed all accusations. “The United States has aligned itself with Georgia, which is a tame weapon in hands of Washington. There is an aim - to discredit South Ossetia as political unit - and western media are used for this purpose,” said South Ossetia’s Information Minister Irina Glagoleva.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 27, 2006
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