Article on Banco de Jalisco counterfeit notes, The Mexican Herald, 4 November 1910

DARING EXPLOIT OF COUNTERFEITER
HOW HE NEARLY SUCCEEDED IN FLOATING BAD NOTES.
BOLD FORGERIES OF OFFICIAL’S NAMES DID BUSINESS.
The recent arrest of H. N. Secreest by secret service officers in Chicago, on the charge of having in his possession counterfeit five-peso notes of Nicaragua, and General Estrada’s telegram that Secreest was acting under his authority, calls to mind a recent case of counterfeiting in which Mexico was directly interested and which is now a matter of correspondence between the two governments.
The case referred is that of H. L. Middleton, who was arrested by secret service officers in New Orleans with counterfeit five-peso notes of the Banco de Jalisco in his possession.
This man Middleton wrote to the National Bank Note company of Philadelphia, informing them that the American Bank Note company of New York could not fill an order for 5,000 five-peso notes and asked them if they could fill the order, and in event of the company’s being able to do so, he would furnish them with the proper credentials.
Arrangements Made.
Arrangements were completed for the printing of the bills and Middleton came to terms with the company and sent them what he called a certificate from the minister of finance, which the company, as they stated to the secret service department of the United States, accepted in good faith.
This certificate was written in English, which is against the law of this country, as all public or official documents must be written in the Spanish language. The signature of Limantour appears as minister of finance and that of Gregorio Hermosillo as secretary of the treasury.
Secretary of the treasury is English for ministro de hacienda and there are not two persons in Mexico holding the same cabinet portfolio, There is in Mexico a tesorero de la nación, which corresponds to the treasurer of the United States, but no other.
Governor’s Name Forged.
The name of Miguel Ahumada, governor of the state of Jalisco, was affixed to the alleged certificate as manager of the bank. All of these signatures were not imitations of the real signature of the persons supposed to have signed them, but simply written as Middleton pleased.
The main fact which led to his detection was that he wrote the name of Limantour as Limanturo and all were evidently of the same hand writing.
In his letter to the bank note company Middleton stated that under the customs laws of Mexico, the express companies were not allowed to handle bank notes: that is, they could bring them across the border, and he would send a messenger of the bank to New Orleans to receive the notes, and bring them to this country. He called this messenger Thomas Marshall, whom he stated was vice-president of the bank. It developed, however, that Marshall was only one of the aliases of Middleton and he received the notes himself when they were shipped from Philadelphia about the middle of July.
Circulated Notes.
He circulated a few notes in New Orleans and was arrested August 4 with practically all the 5,000 notes in his possession and these were at once taken up by the United States authorities.
Curiously enough, Middleton had forgotten or neglected to forge signatures of the bank officials and government bank inspector and the bills were without any signatures. That slip led to the detection of the fraud, for otherwise the notes were absolutely perfect.
The manner in which Middleton worked is the manner in which a large number of clever confidence men have worked the smaller engraving companies throughout the United States and, incidentally the public, by having bills of banks in Mexico, Central and South America made and shipped to them.
Old reliable bank-note firms in the United States have a system that is well nigh perfect and one which is almost possible to evade.
To Prevent Fraud.
These companies receive their orders from nearly all places in the world, but the utmost care is taken in regard to their legality. In the plant itself everything is reduced to a system and the sheets of paper are counted each night and locked up in vaults. After the plates are made and the order is filled, the plates are sealed and put away in vaults. A most rigid inspection is made of every one who enters the work rooms of the plant and admission is only permitted on a pass from the manager.
Small concerns are so anxious to get the orders that they do not exercise the same care as these older and more reliable companies, and in this way many counterfeit bills of Latin-American countries find their way into the hands of the public.