Music by Syon (Thomas Nicosia) Prelude in Em
Initially, counterfeiting and the spending of counterfeit notes was, together with the crimes of extortion and kidnapping, one of the first criminal activities, or rather a racket, in which the Italian criminals arrived in the new continent. On July 5, 1865, the federal government, and precisely the Treasury Department, set up secret services to counter counterfeiting. The first phenomena were evident in several cities in the United States such as New Orleans, Washington, Pittsburgh, and clearly they could not miss in New York. The American intelligence branch was headed by an Irish officer named William Flynn. He was an imposing man, very astute and determined. At the end of the 19th century the situation in that metropolis was very serious. A large number of counterfeit notes and coins circulated.