Odds and Ends ... With Some Other Things

[IceWizard]

Bourassa’s story is one of the boldest and most technically sophisticated
counterfeiting schemes in modern history. A former businessman from Quebec,
Bourassa became frustrated with his work life and made an astonishing pivot.
He decided to counterfeit U.S. currency not with crude reproductions but with
bills so meticulously engineered that federal investigators later said they were
among the most convincing fakes ever discovered. Bourassa sourced the exact
cotton-linen blend used in genuine U.S. dollars, studied ink compositions,
and replicated security features with near-perfect accuracy.

Between 2007 and 2012, he produced an estimated $250 million in high-quality
counterfeit $20 bills, distributing them globally. When authorities finally traced
the operation back to him, Bourassa was arrested and faced an enormous
prison sentence. But he leveraged the one thing law enforcement wanted most
the remaining counterfeit stock. He revealed the location of about $200 million
worth of fake notes he still had hidden, a find that prevented the
bills from entering circulation.

In an extraordinary legal outcome, Bourassa struck a deal with authorities.
Because he surrendered the remaining notes and cooperated fully, he served
only six weeks in prison a remarkably light sentence for one of the largest
counterfeiting operations ever uncovered.

Added fact: Bourassa’s counterfeit bills were so realistic that
U.S. Secret Service agents initially suspected they were dealing with an
inside job from someone who had access to official printing materials.