Just The Best Stuff From Our Dialog With The World's Best Counterfeiter
Frank Bourassa — a lifelong conman and one of the world's most accomplished currency counterfeiters — stopped by Digg to talk about how he printed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in fake bills and almost got away with it all.
Below are some highlights from the conversation, though to get a real feel for Bourassa's criminal magnum opus, you should check out GQ's awesome profile of him and then read through his entire Digg Dialog.
How He Made His Money
Tommy: how strict are the requirements and how difficult is it to obtain the paper? Aren't the suppliers strictly tied to the government?
Frank Bourassa: The paper is definitely the hardest part of all of it. All the security features are in the paper recipe. First, you have to find an industrial paper mill that's willing to make a custom recipe. Then, you have to talk them into adding proprietary elements that's only found in bank note paper. Then, you have to be sure the person you're dealing with isn't going to call the feds on you, and the Secret Service aren't going to show up at your door with the first order you place. It's difficult, but I did it.
Shivram Subramanian: How did you make sure that the people you worked with (such as suppliers) didn't rat you out?
Frank Bourassa: It's a very tricky process. The most honest thing I can say is, while i suck at a lot of things, one thing I'm good at at is reading people. Because I wasn't able to talk to anyone over the phone, I had to do it over over email, and in the end no one rat me out. It's just something I feel when I talk to people. Not everyone can do it, but i guess I'm the best there is.
How It Felt
Joe Tonelli: There's that famous scene in Breaking Bad where Walt reveals a massive cube of cash and just kinda stares at it like, WTF. Did you have a literal moment like that (where you were looking at millions of dollars) or a similar moment where it really hit you how deep you were in?
Frank Bourassa: I haven't seen Breaking Bad, but i know the gist of it. And I definitely had a moment like that. When i had my paper order in and started printing, I was printing $80 a second. It was piling up like crazy. I had skip full s of money. There was no way to stop me. I was fucking rich. It was awesome. I hear in Breaking Bad they made $80 million. Those amateurs. I went a lot farther.
Joey C: What would you say you're more proud of, printing the $250 million or striking a deal with the feds to get away with it all?
Frank Bourassa: It has to be the escape plan I made ahead of time to get out. The $250 million was fun and exciting, but I was facing 60 years at sentencing. I was fighting for my life, and I'm most proud of the fact I was able to win that back.
What's Next?
Celery_Jones: I think this would make for an awesome movie!!! who would you want to play you?
Frank Bourassa: Leonardo DiCaprio would be among my first choices. Matt Damon would also be at the top of my list. In my head, the way I look at things and the way I work, I'm very much like Jason Bourne. The way he's always trying to be 3 or 4 steps ahead is very similar to me. Whoever ends up playing me, I'd just say, "be Jason Bourne with a French accent."
Kevin Greeley: Presumably, visiting the United States is out of the question? Are you worried that the secret service might grab you one day? Really enjoyed reading about you.
Frank Bourassa: For now, I'm not tackling the extradition problem I have. There's no immediate danger of anything happening right now. That said, I do want to fix it eventually. I'd like to maybe work out a deal with the US Mint where I help them stop their currency getting counterfeited and they drop the extradition in exchange. They'd get a lot more out of it than me. I would save them billions.
His Advice To The Next Generation Of Frank Bourassas
Malcolm Harris: What's your advice for a young counterfeiter just starting out?
Frank Bourassa: Before you spend a penny or do any research, look up the sentencing you're likely to get for the amount of money you're about to counterfeit, and think about whether or not you can cope with it.
For the full discussion with Frank Bourassa, click here. To read more in-depth conversations with awesome people, go to our Digg Dialog page. And for more distillations of the best stuff on the internet, check out our Digg Roundups.
