By Jessica LevcoEVANSVILLE, Ind. - Bernard von NotHaus' self-created, "inflation-proof" Liberty Dollar may cost him a lot more than he bargained for -- his liberty.
Calling himself a "money architect," von NotHaus created the precious metal-backed Liberty Dollar as a private currency for people to use as a form of barter, instead of spending U.S. dollars. On his Web site, he compares his product to the competition that the U.S. Postal Service faced when FedEx started.
But, after a two-year investigation of his company, the federal government didn't buy von NotHaus' argument. Authorities said von NotHaus' operation is illegal and a threat to consumers. The FBI on Nov. 14 raided six of his business operations in four states, including the national headquarters in Evansville.
1 comment:
Interesting. Its a system much like that of the gold standard. I wonder where they get all this gold and silver to back up the "money"? I went on the Liberty Dollar website and it appears that this system is also similar to that of the Ithaca system in that their are particular merchants that accept this form of money. You can register on the site to become a "Liberty Merchant" or type in your zip code to find Liberty Merchants around you. I typed in my zip code and a whole list of merchants popped up, but none that I've heard of before which makes me wonder if there is a certain group that these liberty dollars are targeting. Regardless, I think its still pretty amazing how they got this whole system up and actually have about 100,000 participants. It actually kind of reminds me of Boggs.
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