How to Steal a Billion and Bankrupt a Country: A Fairy Tale

Prof Janek Ratnatunga

Once upon a time, in a Galaxy Far away, was a planet in which there was this most green of islands surrounded by the bluest of waters.

It has a fertile soil throughout the land and fish all around. Beneath the soil was an abundance of gemstones and beneath the water were magnificent coral gardens. In this Island, farmers carried out crop rotation for centuries and the fisherman did not over-fish. The Island also had wildlife that was unique in its variety, and majestic mountains and waterfalls. For centuries it supplied grain to other nations, and it was part of the major trade routes. It was ruled by a King. The Island was self-sufficient.

Then about 200 years ago the Aliens came.

They were pale-skinned and carried deadly weapons on one-hand and some sort of holy-book in the other. The Aliens called themselves ‘colonisers’ but they were actually conquerors. They quickly dominated the local population, both physically and mentally. The few who resisted were either shot or thrown in jail. They planted crops that were required in their own homelands and did not worry about crop rotation. Indentured labour was used for both fertilizing the soil and picking the crop. They built roads and railroads to carry these crops and other items plundered from the country to their ships to take to far-off lands. They gave their language to some of the city folk to separate them from the villagers. These city folk imitated the Aliens as best they could.

The Great War

Then about 75 years ago these Aliens fought with other pale-skinned Aliens from their own solar-system. It was an intergalactic war that lasted 6 years. The citizens of the Island were conscripted to fight their Alien conqueror’s battles. Food and other resources were also taken and sent to the Alien armies in far-off places.

At the end of the war, all the Alien conqueror’s resources were depleted. As they could not run their Empire, they handed back the Island for its local city folk to run– but with certain conditions. The system of government and the legal system had to be based on what the Alien conqueror was using. Head of State was initially to be the Alien’s own King or Queen.

The Alien victors of the intergalactic war formed a club called the United Planets (UP) and gave themselves full control with veto powers. They also formed a Global Bank and Monetary Fund to give their former conquered lands loans which they knew could not ever be repaid –the objective was to keep them just above poverty; and to be a supplier of cheap labour and primary commodities for the consumers residing in the Alien planets.

The Locals Take Over

The locals chosen to lead the now independent Island were initially those of high moral values. But over the years the values of those in power diminished; and political victimisation became commonplace. This forced many highly qualified locals to seek refuge in Alien lands and offer help to their motherland from abroad without being politically harassed. The brave professionals who remained behind in the Island were often censored from openly voicing their opinion. Some feared for their lives.

During this period, lax controls over loans given by Alien controlled lending agencies enticed corrupt local politicians to demand more and get more personal kickbacks from debt-funded public projects. First it was 10%, then 20%, then 50%. The Global Bank and Monetary Fund looked the other way at these corrupt practices - as it meant that the Island was forever indebted to its masters, the Alien powers. The locals also formed political parties that appeared to be in opposition; but were actually protecting each other.

“You scratch my back, and I will scratch yours” became the secret password of all the political parties.

To feed their instable needs, more loans were required by the local rulers. Control over companies importing key commodities – Milk Powder, Rice, Fertilizer, etc. – were given to relatives of the rulers. Other Alien lands closer to the Island started giving their own bi-lateral loans; from which the local politicians had siphoned-off large amounts of these monies to their personal slush funds. When the Island could not pay off its debts, the Aliens started garnishing land and ports as compensation for unpaid debts. These stolen monies amounted to millions.

Taking Control of the Financial System

Why steal Millions when Billions can be taken?

Here is how to do it in this beautiful Island in a Galaxy far away.

First, use foreign and local ‘economic hit-men’ to disrupt the system.

This ensures that former conquered lands do not deviate from the Alien master plan of keeping control of the Island’s economy. Thus, ensure that he Island’s financial system is effectively controlled by one man, a sort of ‘Proud Boy’ (or PB)– no matter what government is in power. Even if such a PB is found guilty by the Supreme Court of the Island of violation of procedures and barring him from holding any public office – ignore this and re-appoint him to run the financial system again. This will facilitate the ruling powers’ financial greed in accumulating billions. This PB must be an economic hit-man extraordinaire, so that over a period of 25 years he can totally disrupt the Island’s financial system.

Second, take control of the Central Bank.

This enables games to be played with Government Bonds. Friendly companies can be given information so as to out-bid their rivals for these high-yield bonds. Later the Employee Provident Funds can be depleted in a similar manner, causing more losses. This is a potential billion-dollar scam.

Third, take control of Money Printing.

This is done by entering into a joint venture with an international company that prints the Islands’ banknotes; and change the way they are securely controlled. Usually, batches of notes are printed where the first number and last number is known. The first component of this scam will be is to instruct the Island’s official bank-note printer not to print and issue banknotes in prefix serial order, so that one cannot keep a tally of how many printed notes are released into circulation. Next, have a significant jump in (so called) rejections from a previous rejection rate of 0.3 percent replacements, to about 10 per cent missing serial numbers. Finally, do not carry out an independent audit to ensure that the missing serial numbers do not appear in circulation. This way billions of ‘genuine’ notes can be stolen and then exchanged at ‘black-market’ rates for US dollars to be sent overseas for purchase of real estate in USA, Australia, UK and even Africa!

Fourth, DO NOT default on Sovereign Bonds.

Surely this cannot be a scam? After all, even a structured default means that the country is effectively bankrupt. But then, billions can be stolen by NOT defaulting. How? Let me explain.

Remember, the face value of a bond is the purchase price or principal that the issuer guarantees to return to the bondholder at the time of maturity. Let us assume this is $100. Interest is paid to the bondholder to the period that the bond is held. These bonds can be sold anytime to others in what is known as a secondary market.

Now, if there is a possibility of a default, bondholders will want to dump the bonds they are holding at a price much less than even their $100 purchase price; and take a smaller loss than if the government defaulted and they got nothing. In a panic, say they sell their bonds for $40 each. The only ones who will buy these Bonds at $40 are those that are absolutely  sure that there will be no default, i.e., the friends and families of those in control of the financial system. In this way, when the Island’s Central Bank redeems the bonds at $100, these ‘friends’ would make a profit of $60 plus any interest that is due on them. Now, to carry out this scam effectively, it is important to ensure that the list of final bond holders is never made public. This adds up to Billions stolen when considering the magnitude of the total bond issue!

The Last Chapter – Any Solutions?

Those in power in the Island could keep on stealing as long as their friend from other planets and the Interplanetary Global Monetary Fund allow them to keep on borrowing and piling up more debt. However, they must ensure that the basic needs of a pliant population are provided, i.e., food, power, and fuel. If these are not provided, they will lose control of the masses – and there will be large-scale uprisings against those in power asking them to get out of public office and go home.

If this happens those in power will have no option but to resign from their seats of power en masse, declare that the country is bankrupt, and run for cover. They can leave the mess they created for a caretaker government to clean up.

In these circumstances the only short-term solution will be to suspend foreign debt payments and restructure debt to avoid a hard default –and borrow emergency funds from the Interplanetary Global Monetary Fund.

A longer-term solution is to pursue the Stolen Billions, no matter what planet or solar system they are stashed in.

Also, if feasible, demand Reparations from those Aliens who first plundered the land and kept on plundering the Island after its independence via their toxic loans. This can be done if other lands that were also plundered by the Aliens form a coalition and demand compensation.

However, the reality is that the people of the Island are not going to live happily ever after.