US spy testifies in fake dollar case
Special Agent of the US Secret Service in South Africa Chris Goode with a batch of fake dollars listens to State lawyer Lillian Omara at Buganda Road Court yesterday. In the background are suspects Ryan Gustafson (L) and Christopher Kojjo. PHOTO BY Abubaker Lubowa
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Mr Goode said he went to Pretoria last year to investigate the origin of counterfeit dollar notes which had circulated all over the US and he discovered the notes had originated from Uganda
Kampala.
A United States intelligence agent yesterday testified in the case of an American engineer Ryan Gustafson who is on trial on charges of forging dollar currency notes.
Mr Chris Goode, 39, working at the US Secret Service (USSS) base in Pretoria, South Africa, told Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court that he is an expert in examining counterfeit currency.
Mr Goode said he went to Pretoria last year to investigate the origin of counterfeit dollar notes which had circulated all over the US and he discovered the notes had originated from Uganda.
Gustafson, alias Jack Ferrel, was charged together with Mr Christopher Kojjo on nine counts of being in possession of forged currency notes, unlawful possession of ammunition, conspiracy to commit an offences, among others.
Mr Goode later testified that when the duo was arrested, he was contacted by the Uganda police through the US embassy to help examine some of the dollar currency exhibits.
“In my training, I have many ways of discovering counterfeit dollar bills. First, in genuine notes there is red and blue fibre that is put in between a currency, and there is a security thread that spreads through,” the US secret agent explained.
“When I examined these counterfeit notes I discovered that each of them has a serial number, face plate number and back plate number which is similar on each one of them. They have a similar identifier. This is not the case in genuine currency,” Mr Goode continued.
“Once I determined that these dollar notes were counterfeit, we entered their serial numbers in our data base and discovered that they had been in the US system for three years,” he added.
The Chief Magistrate adjourned the case to today for further hearing.
Mr Gustafson is also separately charged with another count of illegal entry into Uganda. Prosecution states that on December 11, last year, Gustafson and Mr Kojo in Kampala and Namugongo in Wakiso District had 180,400 fake currency notes of $20, $50 and $100 denominations of the US.
The prosecution further states that the duo in December at Mbalwa village in Wakiso District were found selling the forged dollar currency notes.
