Woman charged with smuggling counterfeit cash
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, July 18, 2008


SAN FRANCISCO -- A Taiwanese woman has been charged in federal court with smuggling $380,000 in counterfeit $100 bills in a package of dried seafood, court records show.

Mei Ling Chen, 46, was charged with bringing counterfeit currency into the United States.

Chen was arrested Tuesday at her former husband's home in Sunnyvale, four days after customs agents intercepted a package at San Francisco International Airport that had been shipped from Taiwan, authorities said in documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The customs declaration described the package as a gift containing candy and books, Secret Service senior special agent William Bishop wrote in an affidavit. But when a customs agent opened the parcel to make sure it didn't contain prohibited food items, he found four pouches containing fake $100 bills wrapped in newspaper, Bishop wrote.

The pouches, holding $380,000 in fake bills in all, were hidden among 20 bags of dried seafood, authorities said.

The currency appeared to be "supernotes," fake money that is of such high quality that the fraud goes undetected until the cash reaches the Federal Reserve Bank, authorities said.
The package was addressed to Chen, authorities said. Investigators learned that Chen had been on a flight that arrived in San Francisco from Taiwan on July 7. She entered on a business visa, authorities said.

An undercover agent delivered the package to Chen, who was then arrested.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

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