Mucho trabajo poco dinaro

Report: $800 million is snuck out of Iraq each week It's a staggering claim, but it was made by the country's Supreme Audit Bureau. By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / November 1, 2012 Share on stumbleupon Share on email Shortly before Iraqi central bank governor Sinan al-Shabibi was fired on Oct. 16, his soon-to-be replacement charged, in essence, that Iraq's economy is among the most corrupt on the planet. Dan Murphy Staff writer Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East. Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/1101/Report-800-million-is-snuck-out-of-Iraq-each-week Abdul Basit Turki al-Sae'ed, now Iraq's acting central bank governor, is simultaneously the head of the country's Supreme Audit Board. In September, he led an audit of central bank currency auctions that convinced him that $800 million is "transferred illegally under false pretenses" outside of the country every week, according to the latest report from the US government's Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). Mr. Shabibi was fired by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly afterward. Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz. The claim is staggering, even for a country whose politicians and government agencies are generally acknowledged to be among the most corrupt in the world. The Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Iraq 175th out of 182 countries (Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea, and Somalia were the only countries deemed more corrupt). If Abdul Basit got his figures right, $38.4 billion is illegally laundered and sent abroad every year. For comparison's sake, that's 30 percent of Iraq's annual GDP, and 65 percent of the $60 billion US taxpayers have spent on reconstruction of the country since 2003. There is no question that huge amounts of Iraq's oil revenue and related contracting are flowing into the pockets of senior politicians and their political parties. Contracts related to government work and the oil business are frequently inflated and awarded without competition to the friends and relatives of Iraqi leaders. Still, taking an $800 million bite every week out of national revenue is an astonishing accomplishment that points to far more than inflated contracts. It's hard to see how this could happen without revenue from oil exports being more or less directly diverted to personal, rather than government, accounts. And corruption is a sport played by every political faction within Iraq. Some parties are just more successful than others, with their loyalists stuffed into the ministries with the largest budgets. Junior party members at, say, the oil ministry, are placed there with the expectation they'll direct revenue to the party and its senior members. Failure to do so means they are replaced by bureaucrats willing to play ball. It's basically the same system as under Saddam Hussein, except atomized. Multiple parties competing for the biggest piece of the pie they can get rather than the Baath eating the whole meal. There is very, very little interest among Iraq's senior leaders to stop the music and bring the national, oil-fueled corruptathon to an end. Popular agitation for political change that briefly flared last year in both Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Libya, was successfully crushed, so pressure for change from below seems unlikely. So was the central bank governor really canned for apparent corruption that has to have involved hundreds of officials, many of them far more senior and powerful than he? Not everyone is convinced. Nor will I be, until paddy-wagons begin backing up to luxury villas in Baghdad's international zone and carting large numbers of government ministers and members of parliament away, starting with members of the most powerful parties. "Political opponents of Prime Minister al-Maliki, along with many banking and financial experts, expressed immediate concern that the dismissal of Dr. al-Shabibi ... was an attempt to bring the [central bank] and its $63 billion in reserves under executive branch," SIGIR writes in its quarterly report. In his foreword to the report, Inspector General Stewart Bowen called Shalibi's removal a "peremptory and constitutionally questionable move." Mr. Maliki, leader of the Shiite Islamist Dawa Party, has steadily amassed more power for himself, both by bringing legal cases against political opponents and by seeking to change Iraq's internal rules. In February, a council of judges largely appointed by Maliki said they approved of independent agencies like the central bank being brought under the prime minister's supervision, rather than the Parliament. How does the fraud work? Iraqis need documentation to prove their money was legally obtained in order to convert large sums of Iraqi dinars into US dollars via the central bank. Abdul Basit's audit found that the overwhelming majority of such documents were forged. There's little mystery as to how cash can be illicitly obtained in Iraq. As Bowen's report explains: According to several current and former [iraqi] officials, corruption in Iraq is not tied to personal criminal activity but has become ingrained in the government infrastructure through the political parties. A widespread method to accomplish this corruption has been government contracts, often using shell companies outside of Iraq. The companies that received these rigged awards then move the funds outside of the country through fraudulent means.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/12/100-dollar-bills-stolen-philly/1630679/ So that's where the new currency went that was recently stolen. 'Large amount' of new $100 bills stolen in Philly 6:09PM EDT October 12. 2012 - PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The FBI is reporting an unusual heist of some newly designed $100 bills that aren't going into circulation until next year. Agent Frank Burton Jr. says the cash was stolen from a plane that arrived at Philadelphia International Airport around 10:25 a.m. Thursday from Dallas. Investigators said these Benjamins are easy to spot. The new bills have sophisticated elements to thwart counterfeiters, like a disappearing Liberty Bell in an orange inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon. The FBI said a "large amount" of bills were stolen, but agents aren't giving specifics. The theft was reported by a courier service transporting the C-notes when the shipment arrived Thursday afternoon at the Federal Reserve Building in East Rutherford, N.J. Officials then discovered some of the money was missing

Iraq Issues Arrest Warrant for Central Bank Chief Iraq Issues Arrest Warrant for Central Bank Chief By SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press BAGHDAD October 18, 2012 (AP) Iraqi authorities have issued arrest warrants for the longtime governor of the central bank following allegations of financial wrongdoing, the country's judiciary said Thursday. Allegations against Sinan al-Shabibi, who has led the bank since 2003, surfaced earlier this week while he was out of the country on official business. The charges are seen by the government's critics as an attempt to sideline the politically independent economist, and have been blasted as politically motivated by al-Shabibi's defense team. Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar told The Associated Press that 15 bank officials are being sought along with al-Shabibi. He did not name the other officials or say what specific charges they face. Bayrkdar did not say when the warrants were issued. Repeated efforts to contact the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for carrying out the arrests, were unsuccessful. Lawyer Waleed Mohammed al-Shabibi, a relative of the bank governor who is on his legal team, said he is not aware of any arrest warrants and does not know what charges they include. "We are told that the investigation is secret, and so far we are being kept in the dark," he said. "We demanded to know the details of the case, but up until now, we haven't gotten a clear answer." The attorney earlier this week criticized the allegations as politically motivated. The government denies the charge. In 2011, Iraq's Supreme Court ruled that the central bank and other previously independent bodies should be put under supervision of the Cabinet instead of parliament given that their decisions are executive in nature. The decision was widely criticized as putting the nonpartisan nature of these bodies at risk. Among the critics was al-Shabibi himself, who considered it a threat to the country's assets abroad. "Even if concerns that the move against Shabibi is politically motivated prove unfounded, Maliki's opponents will be wary that the prime minister could seize the opportunity to exert greater control over the (central bank)," said Jamie Ingram, a Middle East analyst at IHS Global Insight in London. The allegations were raised by a special parliamentary committee formed to probe the bank. They surfaced while al-Shabibi was attending a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Tokyo. He is now believed to be in Europe, where it could be difficult for the government to arrest him. Al-Shabibi and other officials are being investigated over allegations of financial irregularities involving the exchange of Iraqi dinars for hard currency. The central bank holds daily auctions of U.S. dollars to local banks, and aims to keep the dinar stable at close to 1,200 to the dollar. Its efforts to stabilize the currency came under pressure earlier this year as the civil war in neighboring Syria and international sanctions against Iran caused a jump in demand for dollars sold by Baghdad, according to bank officials. The bank issued a statement Thursday saying that its dollar auctions continue as normal in an apparent bid to head off any concerns about the currency's strength in light of the allegations. Still, the scandal threatens to damage Iraq's already shaky economy. "The confusion and mess over the central bank was unjustified. To attack public figures through media outlets is the last thing Iraq's economy needs," Iraqi economist Majid al-Souri said. "The government should have formed a committee to investigate any shortcomings and find the right solutions for better bank policies instead of launching general corruption charges against public figures." ——— Associated Press writers Adam Schreck and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed reporting.

"Hassan Karim Aati, spokesman for the Commission on Integrity, said on Tuesday that the Commission is looking into the matter, and studying documents from a parliamentary committee investigating the corruption allegations. The investigation focusses around 16 officials in the CBI. While it’s understood that no charges have been brought, Baha al-Araji, the chairman of parliament’s integrity committee, said 30 arrest warrants had been issued, including for CBI governor Sinan al-Shabibi (pictured) and his deputy Mudher Saleh [Mudher Kasim, Mudher Saleh Kasim]." So they are going to arrest him? Oh man... I wonder where he is hiding out now. If I was him, I'd probably be in the Caymans.

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2012/10/16/iraq-probes-alleged-corruption-at-central-bank Iraq removes central bank head in corruption probe October 16, 2012 RSS Feed Print By ADAM SCHRECK, Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq abruptly removed the longtime governor of the country's central bank Tuesday after he and other bank officials were targeted in an investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing. The governor, Sinan al-Shabibi, is seen as a politically independent economist who has led the bank since shortly after the U.S.-led invasion. He has not been charged with any crime, and his lawyer insists he is innocent. The allegations, drawn up by a special parliamentary committee established to investigate the bank, could give new ammunition to critics of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the Iraqi leader is trying to consolidate control over the country's institutions. Iraq's Cabinet voted Tuesday to temporarily replace al-Shabibi with Abdul-Basit Turki, the head of the Board of Supreme Audit, until the investigation is complete, according to Ali al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the prime minister. Iraq's Integrity Commission, the country's anti-corruption watchdog, is investigating the allegations. "The committee in charge of this ... found shortcomings in the work of the central bank and these findings were sent to the Integrity Commission, which has decided to withdraw power from al-Shabibi," al-Moussawi said. The investigation deals at least in part with alleged irregularities involving the exchange of Iraqi dinars for hard currency, according to al-Moussawi and Haitham al-Jabouri, a lawmaker involved in the probe. About 16 bank employees are targeted in the investigation, al-Jabouri said. He said he expects arrest warrants against some could be issued soon. Before becoming bank governor in 2003, al-Shabibi worked for more than two decades for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. One of his lawyers, Waleed Mohammed al-Shabibi, defended the governor's innocence. The lawyer described himself as a relative of the governor. "These charges are politically motivated. Al-Shabibi is honest and professional," said the lawyer. "The government is planning to replace him with another official who takes orders from the government." Al-Moussawi, the prime minister's spokesman, denied the charge, saying there was no political motivation behind the move. The bank governor himself could not immediately be reached for comment. His lawyer said al-Shabibi is out of the country. He declined to say where. Spokespeople for the central bank said they are not authorized to discuss the allegations. Iraq has rapidly increased its oil output following years of war and neglect, and that has translated into a sharp rise in hard currency reserves. The country earlier this year surpassed next-door Iran as OPEC's second-largest oil producer, and its currency reserves recently topped $60 billion. But the bank's efforts to keep the dinar stable through its sales of dollars to local banks have come under pressure, particularly over the past year. Mudhhir Mohammed Salih, the bank's deputy governor, said in January that he believed the civil war in neighboring Syria and international sanctions against Iran had caused a jump in demand for dollars sold by Baghdad. He said opportunistic businessmen were buying up dollars and then reselling them on the black market to customers across the border, sucking greenbacks out of the country and making it harder for the bank to keep Iraq's dinar stable. The bank aims to keep the local currency set at close to 1,200 dinars per dollar. Salih separately confirmed he is among those being investigated, but said he has no further details.

Iraq removes central bank head in corruption probe (Boston.com) http://www.boston.com/news/world/middle-east/2012/10/16/iraq-probes-alleged-corruption-central-bank/dkGSuKidRxs1w8J792pI1K/story.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/iraq-economy-investment-idUSL5E8KJCQ320120919 Along the same thread topic, but a link from Reuters. Iraq allocates $275 bln for projects over five years BAGHDAD, Sept 19 | Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:00am EDT (Reuters) - Iraq has earmarked $250-275 billion for spending on infrastructure projects and other investments over the next five years, the planning ministry said on Wednesday. Iraq needs development in almost every sector, as rubble and incomplete buildings are still commonplace more than nine years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. "Allocating these huge sums will have a positive effect on pushing the development pace forward," Planning Minister Ali al-Shukri, who was attending a financial and investment conference in London, said. The investment plan will run from 2013 to 2017, his office said in a statement about his visit, without giving further details about possible projects or investors. Shukri called on foreign companies to invest in Iraq's housing, tourism, agriculture, industry and higher education sectors. Other than oil, economic development in Iraq has lagged despite an easing of violence since the height of sectarian strife in 2006-2007. Al-Qaeda militants and other insurgent groups are still active however, and manage to hit Iraq with daily attacks, bombings and assassinations which make security costs a large burden for foreign investors. Investors also complain about bureaucracy and red tape. Government infighting has delayed projects in areas such as electricity and telecommunications. However, the market is potentially lucrative for foreign investors. On May 30, Iraq signed a final contract worth $7.75 billion with South Korea's Hanwha Engineering & Construction company to build 100,000 housing units on the outskirts of Baghdad as part of the government's plan to alleviate a severe housing shortage. Also in May, the deputy minister of industry said that the ministry was in talks with Shell to build a petrochemicals factory that would cost at least $8-10 billion in the southern oil hub of Basra. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)

Iraq tries to recover fleeing bank chief Iraq tries to recover fleeing bank chief (AFP) – 5 hours ago BAGHDAD — Iraq is using legal and diplomatic means to bring back the chief of a state-owned bank under investigation for financial irregularities, a top official said on Monday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki himself has intervened in a bid to secure the return of Hussein al-Uzri, chief of Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), after he fled to Lebanon following the allegations, said cabinet secretary general Ali al-Alak. Alak said the bank had distributed loans without properly arranging guarantees, and had improperly insured credit facilities. "There is a judicial, legal and diplomatic effort to follow up with the head of the Trade Bank of Iraq who escaped to Beirut," Alak told AFP following a news conference in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone. "There have been efforts by Maliki personally to recover Hussein al-Uzri," Alak said, without giving details. He confirmed that a warrant was outstanding for Uzri's arrest. Alak, who said officials had spent two years poring through TBI's lending practices, said "a part of these irregularities relate to bank loans and the insurance of credit facilities." "When we checked a lot of the loans, we found they were given on the basis of courtesy -- they did not have any real guarantees, and this is public money," the official said. "This has caused the loss of millions of dollars because of the lack of recovery of loans."

I did not see this article posted, I hope its BS... Iraq plans to remove zeros from iraqi dinar April 28, 2011 e Dinar financial The Iraqi government plans to chop three zeroes off the national currency. It should make transactions easier and enhance the exchange rate. But local economists are not sure the country is ready. Logically speaking, re-denomination does not change the value of a currency nor should it cause inflation. It should make currency easier to use and increase its credibility. Re-denomination may also be a matter of political expedience. For example, when Turkey announced a re-denomination in 2005, the country’s central bank explained that extra zeroes on their banknotes meant “problems in accounting and statistical records, data processing software and payment systems”, adding that the move to cut them was “psychologically and technically essential”. Re-denomination can usually only be undertaken once inflation is under control and over the last few years, inflation in Iraq has dropped from over 30 percent to single digits. Nonetheless Iraqi opinions about the planned change remain divided. Qasim Jabbar, an economic researcher, is concerned about the psychological impact the removal of three zeroes will have on locals. Additionally Jabbar does not think the time is right. “We must create a stable environment in political, economic and legal terms, in order to control the conditions during the transition period to a new currency,” he explained. “This is necessary in order to ensure that the transition is not manipulated by government departments and in society in general, where there is rampant corruption.” Jabbar was also worried about the absence of a central authority that was truly capable of controlling the Iraqi currency market. He believed that the psychological problem will be people “focusing on the change in numbers, rather than in real value”. By rights, re-denomination should not impact the actual value of a currency; it should still buy the same goods as it did before for the same prices. “But a person with IQD 10 million will feel they have lost a fortune when the zeros are removed,” he noted. Re-denomination is nothing new. “Many countries, such as Turkey and Germany, have also taken this step,” another Iraqi economist Kareem al-Halfi said. “But this doesn’t mean that the Iraqi experience will be like that, of those nations. Iraq has serious structural problems and high rates of unemployment. These problems cannot be solved in the short term and we need to create the economic conditions necessary to allow re-denomination.” According to Mothahhar Mohammed Saleh, an advisor to the Central Bank of Iraq, which was established in 2004 to administer monetary policy in Iraq, the impact of re-denomination could have both positive and negative effects. Firstly, a reduction in the large amount of currency in circulation – there is an estimated IQD 27 trillion in circulation – could have a negative impact on everyday transactions, he said. For example, one previously recorded impact in other countries has included the rounding up (or down) of prices due to re-denomination. On the other hand, the currency will become far easier to use. “In the wholesale sector, goods are being traded using US dollars.” This process is known as “dollarization” and occurs when a country uses a foreign currency, in parallel to or instead of, its own currency because it is seen as more stable and subject to fiscal disciplined. Anyway, according to Saleh, “this change will not be introduced hastily. It will only be introduced when inflation is under control - and after parliament and the Iraqi cabinet has gone through legislation thoroughly. They will then decide how the [re-denomination] law will be implemented.” As Saleh said, “the Central Bank is proceeding cautiously in this matter because it realizes re-denomination could cause economic problems if implemented in haste.” The IQD was first introduced in the early 1930s and was pegged first to the British pound, then the US dollar. After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, strict economic sanctions saw the value of the IQD drop. By the mid-1990s, IQD 3,000 was worth around one US dollar. In order to make purchases in Iraq, huge amounts of cash were needed. An IQD 25 note was the highest denomination available so to make life easier, the government introduced an IQD 250 note. After the American-led invasion in 2003, the Iraqi government issued even more notes with higher values. IQD 25,000 notes were now the highest value. The average person on the Iraqi street said they would be happy to see the IQD stabilize further. But they are also afraid that the lopping off of zeroes will have a negative impact. Baghdad merchant Abdul Amir trades in food products and when he deals with wholesalers he prefers to use US dollars because then he doesn’t have to carry as much paper around. “Large transactions require millions of Iraqi dinar. If I use foreign currency, I don’t need as much,” he explained. “But when it comes to daily transactions, I don’t mind using the dinar.” As to his thoughts on the planned re-denomination, Amir had only questions: “Would there be a loss expected? Would the market be controlled to guarantee its stability?” he asked. Government employee Sabah Daoud raised further questions: “Would the Iraqi dinar rise against the dollar? Would my salary be worth the same, with and without the zeroes?” He wanted to see more research on the impact of such a step on the average Iraqi citizen. Currently the Iraqi government seems set on losing the extra zeroes, those digits that have become such a burden on the dinar. But the road toward this goal is a difficult one. And it is just one stop along an even longer road, the one leading toward prosperity and steady, stable economic growth for Iraq.

Great, just what they need, another green zone.

I know I am pretty new here, but I already get a knee jerk reaction when I see a thread with Okie in the title. It kind of like trying to not watch a trainwreck when i click the link.

I totally support separation of church and state. Most folks assume that our founding fathers were making this country a "Christian Nation" and are unaware of the Treaty of Tripoli. It was submitted to the Senate by President John Adams, receiving ratification unanimously from the U.S. Senate on June 7, 1797 and signed by Adams, taking effect as the law of the land on June 10, 1797. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries. Since the majority of the country is of Christian faith, they assume that it should be their prayers that should be recited in schools and before city meetings etc. If we are all to be considered equal, then excluding all belief systems puts everyone on a level playing field.

I am not a muslim, christian, jew, hindu. buddhist or any other religion, I have no antipathy for any certain belief system, just indifference. Even if it was real, it still would be nothing more than a stamp with a picture on it.

1981: Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor The Israelis have bombed a French-built nuclear plant near Iraq's capital, Baghdad, saying they believed it was designed to make nuclear weapons to destroy Israel. It is the world's first air strike against a nuclear plant. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3014000/3014623.stm Most likely the uranium stockpile was decades old from their attempt at building a nuclear facility back in the early 1980's. I suppose it could be a stretch that the intent of the stockpile was being reserved just for the intent of making dirty bombs, yet the potential for abuse could of been a possibility. I wonder what happened to the biological weapons he was supposedly stockpiling.

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-07-07/us/iraq.uranium_1_yellowcake-uranium-cameco?_s=PM:US 500 tons of uranium shipped from Iraq, Pentagon says IRAQI GOVERNMENT July 07, 2008|From Brianna Keilar and Larry Shaughnessy CNN The United States secretly shipped out of Iraq more than 500 tons of low-grade uranium dating back to the Saddam Hussein era, the Pentagon said Monday. The U.S. military spent $70 million ensuring the safe transportation of 550 metric tons of the uranium from Iraq to Canada, said Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman. The shipment, which until recently was kept secret, involved a U.S. truck convoy, 37 cargo flights out of Baghdad to a transitional location, and then a transoceanic voyage on board a U.S.-government-owned ship designed to carry troops to a war zone, he said. ------------------------------- Thank You Bull Dog. That is definitely considered WMD material ie potential "dirty bombs" I am very appreciative to of learned about this today. /salute

That is an interesting disclosure. I have always been open minded enough to change my mind if there is a valid argument that is different than my own opinion. I will definitely do some research and see if I can find any confirmation to your allegations regarding a stockpile of uranium in Canada coming from Iraq. The nice thing about the internet is even if it was just a blip on the screen you can most likely find a trail. I am not the type to "bash" people, so no worries there mate.

I really wanted to support President Bush and our preemptive occupation of another country under the context of getting rid of a tyrant dictator, and eliminating the possibility of him using WMDs on his people and other countries. Unfortunately I never saw the evidence that proved the WMD's ever existed, and started second guessing our intentions for being there. Just one smoking gun would of substantiated the allegations against Iraq... I do not understand why President Bush would put the WMD situation out there to gain support, and then bury any evidence that they even existed. After losing a friend who I grew up with in Nasiryah two weeks after the occupation occurred, and not seeing any evidence of WMD's it made me un-supportive of our former president, but not our troops. If you were there and saw evidence of WMD's could you explain as generically as you can why something like that would not of been disclosed?

I am a sucker for irony.

I am not a graphic artist, but I would love to see what a trillion 25,000 dinar notes looked like using this type of graphic on that link I provided.

This puts it in perspective as far as what a trillion dollars would look like in hundred dollar bills. http://www.maniacworld.com/what-does-a-trillion-dollars-look-like.html That is a LOT of printing. I think if there was that many Dinar notes floating around I would most likely get more uncirculated every time I ordered.

I am in shock that the Indians would outsource an eye brow plucking job to an Iraqi.

I was considering Iraq. A co worker who got me on the roller coaster, and talked me into investing a grand, mentioned the lop, and admitted it concerned him. He said something along the lines of "If you have X amount of currency, and it is an electronic balance, you are less likely to get burned if it should lop." I picked my dinar up this morning, they were circulated bills, they even had that smell of money. Personally, I enjoy just having something tangible within my grasp, but I was open to hearing some opinions on what other investors are considering. Also just wanted to hi, and good luck to everyone who is invested in this endeavor. Cheers, Poco D

Hello, Nice to meet you folks. I recently purchased a thousand dollars of dinar at 5th3rd bank, matter of fact I got the call yesterday to finally picking them up. I am very excited about finally having them in my hands! I have been on here everyday for the last week, and I can tell that you folks are quite a motivating and optimistic bunch for the most part, and I must admit that the enthusiasm is encouraging. I have been reading a lot of the posts, but I have not seen this question, but I am sure it has been addressed. ( I probably just did not see it) My question is: Is it better to actually hold on to the currency, or would it be better for my investment if I was to put it in a foreign bank account? Thanks guys, and I'll jump on the band wagon and do a enthusiastic "Go RV" cheer! Peace!