The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 13, April 1, 2007, Article 28

CONVICTED COUNTERFEITER FINDS A NEW OUTLET

In the dog-bites-man department, consumers in one Scottish town have 
complained to authorities that gasoline prices are too low. Not that 
they don't love a bargain, but they smell a rat. The Herald of Glasgow, 
Scotland published a story March 30 about a convicted counterfeiter 
raising eyebrows with his latest business venture:

"Hundreds of concerned motorists have called trading standards and 
HM Revenue and Customs about how James McDonald, who has served a 
seven-year sentence for handling counterfeit money, is selling fuel 
for less than half the normal pump price from the Auld Brig Filling 
Station in Tullibody, Clackmannanshire.

"Since February, for a £100 annual fee, drivers have been able to join 
his Motor Vehicle Protection Association (MVPA) and fill up with 50 
litres of petrol or diesel a week. The 58-year-old, who has a long-standing 
reputation for finding loopholes in the law, said his operation is 
perfectly legal and plans to locate MVPA depots around the UK.

"He said the money goes towards research and development of a retrofit 
gadget called the Ripple Generator he's invented, which he claimed cuts 
carbon emissions and improves fuel efficiency. Mr McDonald once said he 
had found a way to allow a petrol engine to run on water."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[Who knows what the guy in Scotland is up to, if anything, but the 
situation reminds me of nothing but Alves Reis, "The Man Who Stole 
Portugal". A con man who duped a British bank note printer into 
believing he was an official of the Portuguese government, Reis 
obtained millions of dollars worth of real but unauthorized banknotes. 
Rather than pass them through shills and share the profits, he instead 
opened a bank and quickly undercut his competitors' rates. Business 
boomed and he ALMOST got away with it. -Editor]

"Reis' downfall came as a result of a fluke of fortune. A teller in 
Oporto, a city of some distance from Lisbon, came to the conclusion 
that Reis and his crowd must be counterfeiters. He had absolutely no 
evidence for his conclusion, but he was so convinced that he had a 
bank official telephone the Bank of Portugal in Lisbon... In desperation 
they sorted the bills by serial numbers and found several duplicate 
serial numbers." 
Full Story

"Reis was convicted and sent to prison where he spent nearly twenty 
years; he died penniless in 1955." 
Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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