Tall tale fails to impress judge in fake-bond appeal

Two men caught with US$375 billion in fake bonds failed to clear their names yesterday after the Court of Appeal rejected their 'fantastic tale' of being recruits for a top-secret operation.

Chief Judge of the High Court Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li found no reason to overturn the conviction last August.

Henry Edgar Tarazona and Shinri Nakamori were convicted in the District Court before Judge Peter Line for possessing false instruments and jailed for three years.

The court had heard the men had 750 $500 million fake US treasury bonds with a face value of US$375 billion. They were caught when police raided a room at the InterContinental hotel on April 3, 2002.

The Court of Appeal was told the defendants' version of events was that they were victims of an elaborate fraud. They believed they were dealing in genuine bonds as part of an official US Treasury plan to recover old bonds.

Tarazona told the court he had met a man who worked for the Pentagon, US Treasury and a representative of the CIA. The pair would be paid a fee if they assisted in the recovery programme. But Mr Justice Ma yesterday upheld Judge Line's verdict. 'Quite why US federal agents or men posing as such would want to involve the applicants in an elaborate set up was quite fantastic and the judge simply could not accept it,' he said.

He said he was also unable to order the early release of Nakamori, whose wife has cancer and father just had a heart operation.