BUFFALO, N.Y. – Two men, Gooding Vincent, 38, of Syracuse, N.Y., and Eugene Cooper, 38, of Buffalo, N.Y., have pleaded guilty to using paper as money in a scam commonly referred to as the ‘Black Money Scam’.
According to the U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr., the defendants participated in a scam where they convinced unsuspecting victims to provide them with money to purchase chemicals to turn black-dyed paper into authentic U.S. currency.
The scam usually involves an individual concocting a story that money, which originated outside the United States, was treated chemically and dyed black to sneak it past immigration officials to avoid tax liability.
However, in this case, the defendants attempted to use a slightly different version of the black money scam. They claimed that genuine United States currency had been obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight wars in Africa.
The defendants stated that the U.S. currency had been dyed either black or white to avoid being detected by opposition leaders in Africa and could be restored by simply washing the bills in chemicals provided by the defendant.
The scam was uncovered when the defendants met with a confidential informant (CI) who agreed to purchase, and did purchase from the defendants, what the CI had been told was $10,500 in United States currency that had been dyed either black or white, in return for $10,000.
The defendants sold valueless black and white banknote sized paper to the CI for $10,000. The defendants later admitted to agents working for the United States Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security that they had sold black and white banknote sized paper having no value to the CI for $10,000.
The pleas are the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tracy Gast and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of James C. Spero.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced before Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder on September 4, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, a fine of $100,000 or both.
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