5 arrested in literal ‘money laundering’ scam

A ‘money laundering’ scam with a twist has been unearthed in Philadelphia.  And police are concerned this isn’t the only group running the confidence game.

 

Philadelphia police have charged five men with a scam in which they told told businessmen they could double their money using black bills smuggled into the United States.  Lt. Ray Evers said Wednesday a businessman tipped police off to the scheme to bilk people out of thousands of dollars with the promise of making money by cleaning up the cash.

 

“They’ll cut open a large stack of U.S. currency that is painted black,” said Evers. “They’ll pull the top two dark bills out. The money is placed in some tin foil and they use a special compound to extract the dark ink from the U.S currency.”

 

Lt. John Walker said police worry others are being scammed and are too embarrassed to report it.

 

“It’s basically a bait and switch, it’s a confidence game, these guys are good at what they do,” said Walker.

 

Walker said the scam takes advantage of people seeking some quick cash.