Texas man tries to cash $360bn cheque

Forth Worth police earlier this week slapped the cuffs on a 21-year-old music biz wannabe who decided the best way to raise some venture capital was to cash a dodgy cheque for $360bn, NBC 5 reports. Charles Ray Fuller Charles Ray Fuller (pictured), of Crowley, made his move at a branch of Chase Bank with said cheque made out …

[Tim]

Land of the free - and stoopid!

America has given us some of the best things in the world, and this is one of 'em. Priceless.

I wonder what he would have done if they cashed it? stuffed all $360 Billion dollars in his saggy pants?

[Armitage]

heh

heh, only reason he only had a small amount of weed on him must be because he smoked the rest of it before going into the bank to cash a cheque for $360Bn ><

[The Mighty Spang]

he chose the perfect career

stupid, greedy, dishonest.

[John Bayly]

Well it is Texas

At least one of their lot isn't running the country.

What, there is?

[g e]

Au contraire, my dear

"I wouldn't picture him doing something that stupid"

She wasn't looking at THIS picture when she said that, obviously. Sharpest knife in the drawer he ain't. I'd not pick him out in a phd parade for sure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Do all those zero's fit on the cheque?

$ 360.000.000.000,00

Anyway, in real money it is, thanks to Mr. Bush, a mere tip.

[Tom]

1 too many zeroes?

Maybe he only wanted 360,000 but was unsure as to how many zeros that required..

thus adding 6 more for good measure.

This guy has made my day.

[James Pickett]

Er...

How did he write the figure down, then? I'm not there's room in the box for 360,000,000,000, unless his writing is awfully small, or was drawn on a bank in Zimbabwe...

[ScottK]

Why that amount?

I was wondering why he picked that amount. Why not a nice round figure like $400bn, but I suppose that would have just been greedy.

[BigTim]

Wrong Currency

It was obviously Zimbabwean dollars and he wanted to buy a stapler.

[Neil Barnes]

Fraud

The fraud was entirely successful, right up to the moment he tried to cash the cheque...

Paris - because even she's brighter than that...

[Andy ORourke]

How did he post bail?

by cheque?

[Nick Palmer]

Misprint

"Fuller was released yesterday after posting $3,750,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bail"

Fixed for you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously has a Music Business plan of action!

1. Become well recognised (somehow! anyhow! even temporary!)

2. ???

3. PROFIT!!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Publicity stunt?

Shurely? It's the only way I can get my head round stupidity that egregious. But to be packing heat and have your stash on you? I suppose it validates his gangsta rep. Maybe he was trying to rob the place, but decided not to and couldn't just say to the teller, "Um, sorry, I forgot my..." and bolt.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, it IS a US habit..

The shell game with the US oil dollars (rumoured to be the cause of the Iraq war as Saddam started to play with Euros instead) has been once explained as passing uncovered cheques around by everyone as payment until someone in the chain actually tries to cash one.

In that context, the amount wasn't that unreasonable, it was only against the wrong name :-).

[Mark Ireland-Spicer]

You have to wonder...

that if he had made the cheque for a more sensible amount (eg $36,000) would he have got away with it? .

[M Brown]

UK or US?

Are we talking UK billion or US billion? If I'm not mistaken, or billion (UK) is one more zero

[Darren Lovell]

You are mistaken, M Brown

The US (and arguably worldwide) billion is 1,000,000,000 where as the original UK/European billion is 1,000,000,000,000, also known as a US trillion.

[Fluffykins]

<YAWN>

I've seen petrol pumps with bigger prices than that.

[Richard]

Re: You have to wonder...

There was a similar case in Nigeria a few years back where a guy got overly abitious forging a payroll cheque.

3 more zeroes = nice little forgery

9 more zeroes = guaranteed jailtime

@M Brown: the UK billion is 3 more zeroes although UK bureaucratese switched to the American version in the 70s, which is a shame as US 1000 trillion was called a billiard.

[Dennis]

Re: Land of the free - and stoopid!

I keep telling you: The IQ of the USA is constant.

Mine's the one with the Mensa membership in the pocket.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ M Brown

you're mistaken.

US billion is 10^^9 UK billion was 10^^12 - but the US billion has prevailed, we need a common name for 10^9. the Trillion is therefore 10^12, beyond that there are quadrillions and quintillions, but they're only for wide-eyed americans, anything not to do with money should use standard form after it gets into the billions.

[Tom Kelsall]

RE: Mistaken Mr Brown

Regardless of the "Official" definition, I (I'm in the UK) have ALWAYS used 1,000,000,000 as "One Billion". I always thought the US Billion was 100,000,000. Add three zeros to "my" billion to get one trillion and so on. That's the way I was taught as a kid and that's what I've always used. I've never even HEARD of a billion being one million millions - it's always been one thousand millions.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: quadrillions and quintillions

but they're only for wide-eyed americans,

or Zimbabwians.....

[Ian Johnson]

Not in my back ...

It's a "yard" for me !

[George Johnson]

What I want to know is....

...on seeing the amount, most likely the writing squeezed into the lines on the cheque, did the bank even think about calling some one? Due dilligence has its place but so does common sense. One look at the amount should have been enough for them to tell him to get lost, surely?

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Tom Kelsall

you state that the UK Billion is one thousand million, and that the US is different at one hundred million. This is clearly wrong, you have heard the US talking about a hundred million many times. no matter how young you are! However it is correct that The US Billion is different to the original UK Billion but both now use the US version (one Thousand Million. - Changed in 1970's)

the UK billion was one million million in the same way a million is a thousand thousands. The UK Trillion was a billion billions. simple sytem, just flawed that a thousand is not a hundred hundreds! consequently the US powers system was adopted 10^3(thousand) 10^6(million) 10^9(billion) 10^12(trillion) etc

(obviously including 10^0(ones) 10^1(tens) 10^2(hundreds))

[Matthew Smith]

I seen it in the movies

The old name for 10^9 was milliard. This is still used in the rest of Europe, but they too are relenting and allowing American culture to wash their own away. The lowest common denominator is defined by Hollywood.

[sc]

wash their own [culture] away?

"This is still used in the rest of Europe, but they too are relenting and allowing American culture to wash their own away."

In which countries is this happening? In Dutch, a "miljard" is 10^9 and there is no sign of this changing. When we speak English, we translate "miljard" as "billion".

[J-Wick]

"Do What?"

I love that this was included in the quote. Closest thing in the UK would be a 'you wot?' response.

[Anonymous Coward]

NIMBY

This is one occassion the septic tanks have got it right - 1 billion is 1,000,000,000, or one thousand million. It simply makes sense to have a word to describe those extra 3 zeros after a million. The "UK billion" isn't useful and makes little sense, I'd be quite happy for it to be forgotten about. "Smithers, the amnesia ray!" The only people who seem to bring it up are those who rarely use the number. In the derivatives world billions are quite common and noone ever stops to question the number of zeros!

[Nagy, Balázs András]

re: wash their own [culture] away?

Well, in Hungary, we have millia'rd, (for 10^9), billio' (10^12), etc... nice start to mix up zeroes in every translated thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

how to raise an idiot

i still dont know to this day why texas produces so many idiots...

is it because of the water ? something in the air? or is it because its part of us bible belt?

major proof of idiot production is with bush family and to this date i thought they had monoply so far...but this one really is an amazing find...

can any one check if he is bush related?

[danimal]

Good start, bad finish.

Stealing and forging checks is good for an upcoming record exec, it shows initiative. Starting off your company with $360 billion is smart because it tells outside investors you take risk-assesment very seriously from a fiduciary perspective. Stealing from your girl's family is also a smart move, because in all likelihood WHEN you hit big you won't want to be with the same girl all the time, so he freed himself up there rather nicely. But having a gun in a bank and not robbing it . . . I thought we were out to get street cred. What gives? Everyone knows you've got to use the $360 billion dollar check as a diversion and take hostages into the vault. There you can use a handheld recorder, and record your soon to be hit "My stupid ass is gonna be in prison, fool" featuring Jay-Z, taking advantage of the vaults great acoustics and the naturalistic screams of fear as you fire your glock. Shame too, he was headed down such a good path.

Mine's the one with the check, the gun, and the dope.

[danimal]

@ Anon Coward

Abstinence only sex-education means only the dumbest breed. That and close proximity to Louisiana and Oklahoma also probably rubs off.

[Chris]

And they're going to prosecute this guy?

Being such a moron is punishment enough for this guy. Not like he's ever going to amount to anything.

Maybe the punishment should be forcing him to get an education.

[Bob Gulien]

With that amount...

You don't have to start a record company. Just buy Universal and maybe if you have something left, buy Apple for the distribution via Itunes.

Just checking for loose change in my coat!!

[Solomon Grundy]

Not His Fault

He wasn't trying to be dishonest but due to the fact that his eyes don't open all the way he simply grabbed the wrong check - he had planned to use a check from his personal account. Don't be too hard on him as it's not his fault.

[Chris Irvine]

i think he took it because...

he probably wanted to fill up his car

i'll take someone elses coat, this man has inspired me to do so

[Jesse]

RE: What I want to know is....

Some people are innocent until proven guilty. Some.

[Anonymous Coward]

can we trade

So you got your chavs and the us has this loser. Think we could trade him for Gordo?

[RRRoamer]

An idea!!!

I wonder if I could write a check for $1bn (US billion, 10^9 and all that) drawn on MY account and then deposit it into my checking account. The funds from the deposit would be used to cover the deposit...

After several of these very nice deposits, my standing with the bank should be high enough that I could get that nice shiny electric toaster when I opened up another checking account.

Maybe...

Paris - Because she has probably already tried this.

[Andy Bright]

Stupid

Obviously trying to cash a check for 36 pence would raise suspicion. I mean who writes a check for such a ridiculously low amount of money?

But I suppose US dollars are still worth something in that country, so let's look at this another way. The bank actually phoned the account holder to find out if it was ok for them to cash the check? So if she'd said, 'yeah no problem, I wrote the check' they'd have given him the money?

Ok.. where is this bank? I'm going to cash a check for $400 billion.

[Garth]

@how to raise an idiot

As much as it pains me to say this, Bush isn't from Texas. He's yanky northeasterner from Connecticut, I believe. Bush Sir. took his family to Texas, apparently to get away from his father.

As I am also a northeasterner, I consider the fact that the Bush family hails from this region of the States a deep and lingering shame.

[Chris C]

Re: Land of the free - and stoopid!

"I keep telling you: The IQ of the USA is constant."

Speaking as an ashamed citizen of the USA, I think that period was typed prematurely. Surely what you really meant to say was 'I keep telling you: The IQ of the USA is constantly declining.' Interestingly, it seemed to have started happening right around the time we started pumping our classrooms full of computers.

[Herby]

$360E+9, etc... Where is the "evidence"

What we need is a copy of the actual check to make sure all of this is proper and all that. Then we will know if the amount was properly announced to the public.

Of course, why don't we just use SI pre/suffixes?

Then it would be 360 Gigadollars. Me, I prefer the more obvious "$360E+9" which everyone knows is the same thing.

Ob. Carl Sagan: Billions and Billions.

[Anonymous Coward]

texas

What crack head teller would even think that some has that kind of liquid assets. how many companies can you think of that have that kind of cash laying around. If I was the teller I would of called the cops right away.

Bill Gates might have a few billion laying around.

[Jon Tocker]

@Armitage

"heh, only reason he only had a small amount of weed on him must be because he smoked the rest of it before going into the bank to cash a cheque for $360Bn"

I'll say! From the look of that pic, he's totally fucking WASTED!

Makes "Jim" from the series "Taxi" look positively compos mentis, doesn't he.

[C]

@ how to raise an idiot

As an ashamed Texan ...

I have lived in Texas and Utah, and I think this stupidity thing has something to do with the bible/religious belt. Because as astonishing as this may sound, Utah seems to be worse off.

Call it 'Dumb and Dumber' .. which BTW has to be one of the worst movies ever released .. even for Hollywierd.

I feel like a stranded ET... in my homeland :(

[Anonymous Coward]

Bail...

I wouldn't say it was entirely unsuccessful, I hope for his sake they don't try and cash the bail cheque though.

Paris, because I'd post bail for her...

[Steve Roper]

Talk about having the IQ of a cockroach...

With a brain cell like that, what's the bet this retroevolved synapse-free lump of meat turns up in the Darwin Awards in the not too distant future? Might be an all-time winner too!

[nutellajunkie]

damn them 419ers

Haven't they come up with enough stupid ideas?

Obviously not!

[Phil Gault]

Give me a...

T...

Give me a W...

Give me an A...

Give me a T...

And what have you got...?

[Anonymous Coward]

In texas we have the biggest."everything"

Well they say texas has the biggest. "You name it"

and it seems. In Texas we even have the USA maybe the world's biggest idiot's...

And they all want to be the biggest ever:

This guy fails to fool a bank into cashing Americas biggest dud check.

Another fails fool the people: That he is not the biggest dud president

Well it is Texas

So I guess we do have the biggest idiots. Too..Yep Were busted!.

[Nathan Billett]

I can't believe I'm defending the septics... it's the frogs that are at fault...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales

Whilst the UK chose the Long form for the the bulk of the 19th & 20th centuries; apparently since 1974 we changed our mind... although I know I was still taught long form up into 1995...

Anywho... it's all the bloody Frenchies fault... and now with global trading, it doesn't matter anymore... everyone uses the short scale :|

[Jon]

Just a point

Got to say this, but as I was taught, it goes something like this;

10 - ten

100 - hundred

1000 - thousand

10,000- ten thousand

100,000 - hundred thousand

1,000,000 - million

10,000,000 - ten million

100,000,000 - hundred million

1,000,000,000 - thousand million

10,000,000,000 - ten thousand million

100,000,000,000 - hundred thousand million

1,000,000,000,000 - billion

10.000,000,000,000 - ten billion

etc. It's all to do with language, and the use of words to describe numbers.

[Mike Calyn]

With the price of gas today.....

He must have wanted to fillup his Hummer!

I'll get me coat....

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so surprising...

We had a store clerk here cash a $200.00 bill. The bill had George W. Bush's picture on it. Someone passed it to her for a $2.00 item, and was given the change. We don't have such a bill, of course.

Another person was nearly arrested for trying to pass a legitimate $2.00 bill, which is legal currency here. The clerk thought there was no such thing.

Our education system isn't altogether effective, I'd say.