Investigative Reports - Counterfeit War

With American-supplied printing presses, expert engravers and a steely determination to create the wealth that will allow them to purchase a nuclear arsenal, the Iranian Government is producing counterfeit $100 bills so perfect they cannot be told from the real thing. As the 20th century winds down, advances in counterfeiting are creating a massive problem for the Treasury Department and the Secret Service, whose job it is to detect counterfeit bills and bring their producers to justice. The Iranian "Superbills" are just one example though the most important and disturbing of this growing trend. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS takes a probing look at the state of counterfeiting today. See how the explosion of color copiers has led to a boom in small-scale counterfeiting, and learn the shocking reason behind the redesign of the U.S. currency. Travel from Germany to Russia and Iran on the trail of some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world, who have made counterfeiting the biggest criminal enterprise of the post-Cold War era. And meet the agents who risk their lives trying to bring them to justice.