Not Our Problem, Pal

American Scofflaw

The $60 Sam Volpe thought he had lost for good hardly rates among the biggest rip-offs we've covered.

But the story of his run-in with a Rockledge bank over some "funny money" is interesting, if not instructive. It may cause you to double-check any Benjamins -- or Andrews or Ulysseses -- you receive from a bank teller or automated teller machine.

On Thursday, June 4, Volpe visited his Washington Mutual branch at Barnes Boulevard and Murrell Road, just north of his Viera East home. The 83-year-old retired pipe fitter cashed a check for $300 and pocketed the dough for the weekend. On Friday, he stepped into a checkout line at a Publix store, also at Barnes and Murrell, and pulled out the first crisp $20 bill.

"The clerk held it up to the light and said, 'I'm sorry, sir. This is counterfeit,' " Volpe recalled. "I said, 'Doggone!' and went right over to the bank."

At the WaMu branch, a teller examined the cash Volpe said he had received there a day earlier and spotted two more phony 20s. She gave Volpe a photocopy of the three fakes, and said the bank would report them to the U.S. Secret Service, which investigates counterfeiting.

Volpe was in no legal trouble. But the bank wouldn't replace his $60. He could appeal to a manager the next day.

"The first night, I couldn't sleep. . . . I just laid there and thought about how someone could burn me," Volpe said. "I sure hated to lose 60 bucks that way."

Volpe struck out with the manager that Saturday.

"She said: 'How do we know you got it from this bank? Once you walk out of this bank, you're responsible for the money.' "

Will The Real Owners of America Please Step Forward, Thank You

American Scofflaw

As a result of these developments, which are directly related to the financial meltdown, the entire ownership structure of real economy assets is in turmoil.

Paper wealth accumulated through insider trading and stock market manipulation is used to acquire control over real economic assets, displacing the preexisting ownership structures.

What we are dealing with is an unsavory relationship between the real economy and the financial sector. The financial conglomerates do not produce commodities. They essentially make money through the conduct of financial transactions. They use the proceeds of these transactions to take over bona fide real economy corporations which produce goods and services for household consumption.

In a bitter twist, the new owners of industry are the institutional speculators and financial manipulators. They are becoming the new captains of industry, displacing not only the preexisting structures of ownership but also instating their cronies in the seats of corporate management.

And on the lighter side, please avail yourself of this, and this and this. Justice does exist somewhere, you know.