Post by Sapphire Capital on Nov 6, 2013 2:15:47 GMT 4
Inside The Dubious Dinar Revaluation Ruse
As followers of the Iraqi dinar know, there are a lot of “updates” out there on the various websites that either sell or track the troubled currency.
Most of this “news” is much ado about nothing.
Iraq is on the precipice of a civil war with some 5,000 victims this year alone. It doesn’t appear that the country’s woes — partially unleashed by the disastrous American-led war — will be resolved anytime soon.
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Dinar Deception Driven By False Hopes John Wasik John Wasik Contributor
In the interim, untold millions have been spent on speculating in the country’s currency, which is not traded on any legitimate foreign exchange and is worth a fraction of a dollar.
The currency is so unpopular that many Iraqis prefer the buck. But that hasn’t stopped a plethora of internet-based “dealers” from selling the dinar as fodder in a get-rich-quick scheme.
The ruse is simple: Get dinar buyers to believe that the currency will be favorably revalued soon so they can sell their dinars at a huge profit.
While that may happen, it’s highly unlikely given the current political and economic situation. No U.S. bank will handle the dinar while dealers reap huge commissions and mark-ups.
Yet rumors continue to feed this market the way a stoker feeds a coal-fired boiler.
The latest rumor is that the Wells Fargo WFC -0.16% bank is setting up some kind of mechanism to buy the currency. I heard the rumor last year and it’s since resurfaced. But the bank wants nothing to do with the currency. Here’s a statement they sent me when I inquired (an email directly from Kate Ellis in Wells Fargo corporate communications):
“Wells Fargo does not currently buy or sell Iraqi dinar and has no plans to do so in the future. When we provide banknote services to customers, it is generally for travel related purposes and we do not foresee a high number of customers traveling to Iraq for business or leisure purposes in the near future.“
What was the origin of this rumor? Whoever spread it was desperate to signal that a legitimate regulated entity was getting involved in the dinar trade, which, thus far, has been completely unregulated and beyond the reach of bank watchdogs.
Keeping the Dinar Flame Flickering
It’s clear that by ginning up news about the dinar, the myriad websites that are pushing dinars are trying to keep hopes up for the untold thousands who bought the currency.
One of the ways the dealers keep the flame burning for the beleaguered currency is through “conference calls” where so-called “experts” report on developments on the revaluation front. When you google “dinar conference calls,” you get more than 60,000 hits. I get several alerts a day from sites claiming to have dinar “news.”
One reader who contacted me (and asked to remain anonymous) looked into it further:
“My friend’s brother gave him dinars, motivating us to start researching. We looked at the likelihood of a revaluation, then started looking at what is motivating them (the dinar site operators)…Many of them do not appear to be selling dinar on their sites. Plus, the only way they can make money on the difference is if there is a way to exchange. As you know, the only way to exchange is to fly over there (Iraq) with boxes of dinars, trade them for a box of U.S. dollars, and hope you make it back alive. Another way we thought they are making money is by pretending to sell the dinars. From what we can tell, everybody who has purchased dinars has received the currency. The only way we’ve been able to determine how money is being made is the free conference calls. I estimate the dealers are making at least $2,500 per day per conference call.”
How do the dealers make money from conference calls? They may get a rebate on the cost of the call from telecommunications services. The longer they keep people on the line, the more money they make. Is this how the dinar dealers are profiting? I don’t know for sure, but it is a possible incentive for offering conference call services when there is no real news.
Another reader told me he listened in to one of the dinar calls. Here’s what he heard:
“The thing was I didn’t quite understand how these guys doing these conference calls are making money. One site had zero advertisements on the site to make any money; he didn’t seem to be pumping any particular Dinar Exchanger site and therefore it didn’t seem he is being paid by a Dinar Exchanger site (unless maybe he is being paid by all of them, which is possible I guess, but I think unlikely). But yet he was doing 3 or more conference calls/week where they average over 2 hours per call. That is a ton of work for nothing, so he has to be profiting somehow (he does have a donate button now, but that has only been there a week or so)…So I am speculating that they can see how many people are on the conference calls and when the callers started dropping off it means they are losing money coming in because everyone was dropping off (because they weren’t hearing the revaluation was happening.”
Dinar-Like Dreams Can Be Nightmarish John Wasik John Wasik Contributor
Dinar Deception Driven By False Hopes John Wasik John Wasik Contributor
I have no way of independently confirming any of this, but I’m aware of the sites that offer conference calls and updates because I see alerts on them several times a week. Let me know what you’re hearing.
Meanwhile, dinars continue to be sold and the chicanery continues.
Criminal Indictments
Last September four men, principals of a firm called the “BH Group,” were indicted for their alleged involvement in a $24 million dinar-selling scheme and two non-existent hedge funds. According to the indictment:
“The conspirators promoted the dinar and non-existent hedge funds through the dissemination of a series of material falsehoods conveyed primarily through weekly interstate conference calls and through the conspirators’ web site, according to the indictment. False claims included statements about the U.S. Treasury Department’s holdings of dinar and involvement in the Iraqi dinar investment market, according to the indictment.”
In Toledo, a class action suit is also pending against these operators. Toledo attorney Tom Pigott, who represents some of the investors, told me in an email:
“These were people (the defendants in the suit)…who did the weekly conference calls. Originally they sold (dinars) direct. Later they set up an arrangement where they had people go to a website and put in a `coupon’ code. The BH Group is associated with Bayshore Capital (Florida). Bayshore was run by Rudy Coenen. The BH Group was selling dinar and with Coenen offering prepaid ‘seats’ in a hedge fund that was going to invest in all types of Iraq projects after the revaluation.”
Pigott, whose friend invested in dinars and bought them through a man Pigott calls “Fred,” has much more detail on his website:
“The Iraqi Dinar scam has been around since the first Gulf War…We see the use of experts, selling to affinity groups, claiming scarcity, stating that you have to act now to become an insider…All a scam. `Fred’ uses economics to explain how the Dinar must be revalued so that the country of Iraq can sell its oil. Fred tells you how it once was trading at three times the value of the dollar instead of the pennies it now trades. Fred neglects to tell you that the `value’ of Dinar to the Dollar was not set by the market, but by a guy named Saddam Hussein who set the value simply by proclamation.
In this case, this is known as a hard currency scam. Hard currency meaning physical dollars. Fred makes his money by selling you actual Iraqi Dinars at a huge mark up. Typically they are sold at somewhere like one million Dinars for $1,200. Try to trade your Dinars in at a reputable dealer and they will offer you approximately $650 for your million Dinars.
The other method to gain trust and reputation that Fred uses is to say that his company is a `registered currency trader.’ The closest I can get to a registered currency trader is a registered money service business. If you want to become a registered money service business it’s pretty simple: Just complete a form and if you complete it correctly and send it to the IRS you can be one. No exam, no training. What this business relates to is similar to a business that accepts Western Union payments. It has nothing to do with trading currencies.”
The BH Group claimed to be a dinar specialist. Its website now states that it has suspended its conference calls due to “pending alleged legal issues.” In the online statement, chairman Brad Huebner (also indicted in the above case) says:
“This action has nothing to do with the legitimacy or sale of the dinar and you’ll be informed what appropriate actions to take once the Re-valuation occurs. I look forward to have a chance to defend myself, but until then thank you for your prayers and support.”
Speaking of prayers, in the interim, pray that peace comes to Iraq (and to their Arab neighbors to the west), but don’t buy their currency.
