AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885

MAY 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. MAN SENTENCED FOR BLACK MONEY SCAM

Greenbelt, Maryland - Jean Jacques Dzmitchon, age 31, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for altering U.S. currency in a black money scam in which he would attempt to convince unsuspecting individuals that he could transfer the image of U.S. currency onto pieces of white paper and ultimately double the currency of the contributing victim, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the statement of facts presented to the court on December 12, 2005 at his guilty plea, Dzmitchon would alter real U.S. currency by coating it in a very dark chemical and/or powder solution. A targeted victim would then be shown two white strips of paper, cut in the shape and form of U.S. currency. These white strips of paper were said to contain “ghost images,” or impressions, of real $100 and/or $50 bills. The victim would be told that the two strips of paper were, in fact, actual Treasury paper (“film”) from which “real” U.S. currency was made. Chemicals and/or powder would be placed on the two white strips of paper, causing the white strips of paper to turn a very dark color–-almost black. The victim would then be asked to provide a real $100 or $50 bill, which would then be sandwiched between the two (now dark) strips of paper. The dark color would be washed away with water and/or chemicals, revealing two $100 and/or $50 bills that looked identical to real U.S. currency. The defendant would represent to the intended victim that the bills purported to be created from the formerly white strips of paper were “real” U.S. currency. In truth, however, through sleight of hand, the original two white strips of paper would be switched and replaced with real U.S. currency coated in a chemical and/or powder solution. Accordingly, when “washed,” real U.S. currency would be revealed.

On April 19, 2005, an undercover officer ( “the U/C”) met with Dzmitchon at the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Dzmitchon demonstrated a technique he claimed would effectively counterfeit U.S. currency. Specifically, Dzmitchon obtained a $50 bill from the U/C and then removed two pieces of white paper from an envelope in his briefcase. He cut the white paper into the form and shape of U.S. currency, donned a surgical mask and gloves, and applied some unknown liquid to the $50 bill and paper before sealing them in tin foil. The chemicals blackened both the white papers and the bill. Dzmitchon later removed the bill and paper from tin foil, rinsed them in liquid, and presented two additional $50 bills, claiming they had been manufactured from the original bill submitted by the U/C.

On May 24 the U/C met Dzmitchon at the Montgomery County Airpark and provided $40,000 in U.S. currency. Dzmitchon sprinkled a white powder upon the currency, sealed the stack of currency with tin foil and tape, washed the stack of currency in a series of plastic containers containing an unknown liquid and placed the stack of currency under pieces of wood in an attempt to apply pressure to the stack Dzmitchon repeated this process using a stack of white paper cut into the form and shape of U.S. currency. Dzmitchon told the U/C that the stacks of U.S. currency and white paper had to be compressed for 24 hours. Dzmitchon agreed to meet the U/C in 24 hours, and at that time, the white paper would be applied to the U.S. currency, producing $80,000 in U.S. currency. Both parties agreed to leave the stacks of U.S. currency and white paper at the Montgomery County Airpark until that time. The defendant then exited the area.

Agents subsequently confirmed that neither of the stacks left at the Montgomery County Airpark by the defendant contained U.S. currency. The defendant was apprehended in his vehicle a short time later. A search of the defendant’s vehicle resulted in the recovery of the $40,000 U.S. currency, previously provided to the defendant by the U/C.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Montgomery County Police Department and United States Secret Service for their investigative work, and commended Assistant United States Attorney James M. Trusty, who prosecuted the case.