Supernote

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln created and commissioned the United States Secret Service to suppress counterfeiting. Counterfeit currency has been a potent political weapon for nations trying to undermine the U.S. economy. The most insidious and dangerous example of this came to be known as the “Supernote,” the first nearly undetectable $100 Federal Reserve note. It had the potential to undermine the economy of the United States and threaten the financial stability of the entire world. Finding the printer became the primary focus of the United States Secret Service. Given that each day literally trillions of U.S. dollars change hands, it is easy to see how a single counterfeit $100 bill is like an individual virus, nearly invisible, airborne, highly infectious, and almost impossible to capture. Even clusters of a few thousand here or there at a casino or a car dealership, an equipment purchase, or payment for illicit contraband can cause these “viral particles” to spread like wildfire, and tracing them back to their “super spreader” is like finding a needle in a haystack. This is what the Supernote creators were counting on. What they did not count on was the dedication and perseverance of United States Secret Service Special Agent Ross Garrett. For him every day was game day, there were no practices. While some names, places and dates have been changed, this is the story of how the Supernote investigation unfolded and how it ended. As so often is the case, truth turned out to be stranger than fiction.