Alves Reis (b. in Lisbon, September 3, 1898 - July 1955) was a Portuguese criminal who perpetrated one of the largest frauds in history, against Banco de Portugal in 1925, often called the Portuguese Bank Note Crisis. Common stereotype of a criminal A crime in a broad sense is an act that violates a political or moral law. ... The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The famous 500 escudos bill, that were forged by Alves dos Reis'

Artur Virgilio Alves Reis had studied engineering for year and quit to get married to Maria Luisa Jacobetti de Azevedo. In 1916 he decided to emigrate to Angola which, at the time, was a Portuguese colony. He forged himself a diploma of engineering, supposedly from the Oxford University. In Angola he got a job as a supervising engineer for a railroad. 1922 he quit, created a successful import-export company and returned to Portugal as a wealthy man. Image File history File links An old portuguese bill of 500 escudos. ... Image File history File links An old portuguese bill of 500 escudos. ... Licensure and Qualifications for the Practice of Engineering The Engineers Ring The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer Engineering Disasters and Learning from Failure American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) ASEE engineering profile (2003) PDF Categories: Architecture and engineering occupations | Engineering ... In politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a geographically-distant state (or city, in ancient times). ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

In Portugal he acquired an US car dealership and attempted to take over an ailing company Ambaca. He did it by forging checks for enough money to gain control of Ambaca and then used its money reserves to cover the checks. The remaining money he used to try to acquire control of Angola Mining Company. July 1924, before he could take control, he was arrested for embezzling the Ambaca money. Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation of property by a person to whom it has been entrusted. ...

In the prison he studied Banco de Portugal which, at the time, was essentially a private company. When he was released on technicality after 54 days, he blamed a criminal conspiracy for his sentence. The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Republic of Portugal. ...

In 1924 Reis contacted potential business partners and detailed his new plan. He planned to arrange a contract with Banco de Portugal and the Portuguese government that would allow him to print separate banknotes of escudos for Angola in exchange of a loan to Angola with the equal amount. The escudo was the official currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro in January 1, 1999 (euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ...

Reis allied with a number of associates, including Dutch financier Karel Marang van Ijsselveere; German Adolph Hennies; Adriano Silva; Moura Coutinho; Manuel Roquette and Jose Bandeira, brother to Antonio Bandeira, Portuguese minister to the Hague. Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ...

Through Jose Bandeira, Reis acquired his brother's signature for his contract. Then Reis wrote up the fraudulent contract and had it officially notarized. He also acquired three certifications for the notarization in embassies of Britain, Germany and France. Then he rewrote the contract with a French translation, forged signatures of the Bank of Portugal officials and affixed the notarizations to the new contract with large banknotes. With this contract Reis gained cooperation of some Dutch entrepreneurs. John Hancocks signature on the United States Declaration of Independence A signature is a usually stylized version of someones name written on documents as a proof of identity, like a seal, but handwritten. ...

Next Karel Marang approached a Dutch printing company who told that the specific banknotes had been printed by a British company, Waterlow and Sons Limited of London. With a Dutch letter of introduction, Marang approached Sir William Waterlow. He explained that for political reasons the contract required utmost discretion and promised that he would shortly receive appropriate documentation from Lisbon. St. ...

When Waterlow received letters that authorized the printing - more of Reis' forgeries - he accepted the contract. Reis's accomplices promised that they would stamp the word "Angola" onto the new notes, because the notes were supposed to circulate only in the colonies, so Waterlow could use serial numbers similar to banknotes that were already circulating in Portugal. Waterlow and Sons Limited printed banknotes worth 300 million escudos (the equivalent to £3,023,889 at the 1925 rate of exchange). First delivery was made in February 1925. Reis proceeded to launder them into smaller nominations of genuine money. 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ...

Reis received only 25% of the proceeds but became very wealthy and created the Bank of Angola and Metropole to aid in circulation by promising higher interest. He invested heavily in currency and stock market and even created a minor upsurge in Portuguese economy. However, his intent was to gain control of the Bank of Portugal so he could thwart any possible investigations to his scheme. So he began to buy stocks of the Bank. A stock market is a market for the trading of publicly held company stock and associated financial instruments (including stock options, convertibles and stock index futures). ...

There were already rumors of someone forging large banknotes but bank officials had not found any proof. On October 1925, a teller in Oporto became suspicious and phoned bank officials in Lisbon. Officials rushed in and confiscated the currency in the Bank of Angola in Oporto and finally found bank notes with duplicated serial numbers. They contacted Waterlow and Sons and Reis' scheme fell apart. Reis and most of his associates were arrested in December. Only Marang and Adolph Hennies escaped. A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ... District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Pedro Santana Lopes PSD Area 84. ...

Reis was arrested and held for 108 days. In the following trials, Reis' forged documents were convincing enough that judges begun to suspect the Bank of Portugal officials might be really involved. This delayed the sentence for five yeas but Reis was finally tried in 1930. He was convicted and sentenced for 20 years in prison. In prison he converted to a protestant sect and was released 1945.

Bandeira received a similar sentence. Marang was tried in Netherlands and sentenced for only 11 months. Hennies fled to Germany where he died 1936.

Alves Reis died of heart attack in poverty in 1955. A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Repercussions

Reis's fraud had enormous repercussions on the economy and politics of Portugal.

By the end of 1925 Reis had managed to introduce into the Portuguese economy escudo banknotes worth £1,007,963 at 1925 exchange rates, a figure which in perspective is equivalent to 0.88% of Portugal’s nominal GDP at the time.

The Portuguese currency was severely compromised by the counterfeiting and existing 500-escudo banknotes had to be withdrawn.

When Reis's fraud became public knowledge in December 1925 it brought about a crisis of confidence in the Portuguese government. Although events of this period are still little understood, this crisis had a strong effect on the 28 May 1926 nationalist military coup against the Primeira República government of President Bernardino Machado which brought the República Autoritária to power, heralding the dictatorship of Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar from 1932 to 1968. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bernardino Luis Machado Guimarães (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 28 March 1851 _ Oporto, 29 April 1944), was a famous Portuguese political figure. ... Antonio Salazar on July 22, 1946 issue of Time Magazine Professor António de Oliveira Salazar (April 28, 1889—July 27, 1970) was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, noted for the dictatorial nature of his government. ...

Banco de Portugal sued Waterlow & Sons in the High Court in London. In one of the most complex trials in English legal history, the case was finally settled in the House of Lords on 28 April 1932 in favour of Banco de Portugal, which was awarded £610,392 in damages. The term High Court could refer to one of the following institutions: High Court of England and Wales High Court of Australia The Four Courts of Ireland The High Court of Justiciary in Scotland And the 18 High Courts of India The High Court of Andhra Pradesh The High Court... St. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 1932 is a leap year starting on a Friday. ...

See also

• Northern Bank

Northern Bank, is a commercial bank in Northern Ireland. ...

Further reading

• Murray Teigh Bloom - The Man Who Stole Portugal, London: Secker & Warburg (1966)
• Andrew Bull - "Alves Reis and the Portuguese Bank Note Scandal of 1925" The British Historical Society No. 24: pp 22-57 (1997)
• T Kisch - The Portuguese Bank Note Case London: Macmillan (1932)
• Artur Virgilio Alves Reis - O Angola e Metropole – "Dossier Secreto." Lisbon (1927)

External links

• The Effects Of The 1925 Portuguese Bank Note Crisis