US man seeks change for $1m note

[Kyt]

Yep, it's another of those "only in America" stories

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7036098.stm

A man who handed over a counterfeit million-dollar bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket and asked for change has been arrested.

Police told the BBC the man became abusive when a manager at the Giant Eagle store confiscated the fake note.

He broke an electronic funds-transfer machine at the counter and reached for a scanner gun, said police.

There is no real US bill worth $1m (£490,000). Since 1969, the $100 note has been the highest in circulation.

The man walked into the store on the north side of Pittsburgh on Saturday evening.

After refusing to give his name to police, the suspect, who was not carrying identification, was charged with forgery and criminal mischief.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard told the BBC News website: "The John Doe [unidentified male] became irate when staff refused to change his $1m bill and damaged a piece of equipment. Officers arrested him."

He was detained at Allegheny County Jail.

Police are investigating whether the bogus note was among a batch distributed last year as a publicity stunt by a Dallas-based religious ministry.

[Wise1]

lol, you wonder where they get the nerve to do something like that.

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by Wise1

lol, you wonder where they get the nerve to do something like that.

Is "nerve" another word for thick? I'd love to have been the cashier who broke the news, or the guy who fobbed him off with it. Certainly beats "hey buddy, got change for a coffee?"

[Kyt]

Oh christ, this one's even better:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071009/..._urine_charges

TAMPA, Fla. - Cynthia Hunter spent almost two months in jail over a vial of cat urine. Hunter, 38, was arrested Aug. 15 on a charge of petty theft after she was accused of stealing from a Wal-Mart store.

Deputies added charges of possession of a controlled substance after finding a vial containing a yellow substance in her purse. A drug field test suggested the substance was methamphetamine, The Tampa Tribune reported.

Hunter had protested, saying the substance was dehydrated cat urine for her son's science project and that it had been purchased at an animal clinic. She was released Thursday after lab tests found the substance was, in fact, cat urine.

Hunter pleaded guilty to petty theft and a judge gave her time served. It was not clear if she had an attorney and why the substance might have tested positive for methamphetamine.

[Kyt]

OK this is an old story but I just found it. And it was a woman!!!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It is considered polite to light a match after passing gas. Not while on a plane.

An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.

The Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Nashville after several passengers reported smelling burning sulfur from the matches, said Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority. All 99 passengers and five crew members were taken off and screened while the plane was searched and luggage was screened.

The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a "body odor," Lowrance said. She had an unspecified medical condition, authorities said.

"It's humorous in a way but you feel sorry for the individual, as well," she said. "It's unusual that someone would go to those measures to cover it up."

The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane. The woman, who was not identified, was not charged in the incident.

[Antipodean Andy]

"It's humorous in a way but you feel sorry for the individual, as well," she said.

Yeah, because she's effing stupid!

[spidge]

Could be worse! She might have been a relation.

Bet she was a "Redhead". (Aussie joke)

[Kitty]

Oh dear God. On behalf of woman kind i rescind all claim to that creature.

[Kyt]

Originally Posted by Kyt

"only in America" stories

I take this back. It's not "only in America":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7057211.stm

A gang hatched a plot to con the Bank of England out of £28bn by producing fake bank notes, a court has heard.

But the "audacious" plan involved £1,000 notes which had not been legal tender for more than 60 years, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Prosecutors Martin Evans said if the fake bank notes had been genuine they would have been worth almost 75% of the £39bn currently in use worldwide.

All six defendants deny conspiring to defraud the Bank of England.

Special issue

The charges relate to a period between 1 December 2006 and 27 March 27 2007.

Denying the charge is Ross Cowie, 62, of Fairholme Road, West Kensington, west London, who described himself as an Australian lawyer, and the family's so called "chief" Chin "Daniel" Lim, 50, of Prince's Plain, Bromley, south London.

Also before the court are Kim Teo, 41, of Lichfield Grove, Finchley, north London, said to be a solicitor; Ping Mak, 56, and Kwok Chan, 55, both of Colson Way, Streatham, south-west London and Chi Chung, 53, of Frithville Gardens, Shepherds Bush, west London.

At the opening of the trial jurors heard that the plan was further undermined by the use of "special issue" notes, with a face value of £500,000, which had never existed.

Bank officials were told the notes were real and owned by a so-called "family" of former Chinese nationalist officials, the oldest one of whom was 116.

Suspicions raised

Mr Evans explained that the signature, apparently forged on the samples recovered, was incorrect.

He said Sir Jasper Quintus Hollamalways, appointed chief cashier of the Bank of England in 1963, used his first two initials when signing his name, whereas the alleged counterfeiters had only used the second.

Mr Evans said the case was "an audacious plan to present counterfeits, pieces of paper that resembled bank notes, in order to persuade the Bank of England to honour the promise all bank notes carry".

The bank was first approached through an e-mail from Mr Cowie who said he had a number of £1,000 bank notes he wished to redeem for a more current currency.

After revealing he also had £500,000 notes to exchange, bank officials became suspicious and alerted the police.

The case continues.

[spidge]

Can you be put up against a wall and shot for stupidity?