Story Covered by a Paper

Illegal tender: Couple accused of using 'barter currency'

(Published Saturday, September 15, 2007 01:38:52 AM CST)

By Mike Heine/Gazette Staff

An Illinois couple arrested this spring may be the first to try and use a "private barter currency" in Walworth County, District Attorney Phil Koss said.

Shaun A. Kranish, 22, and Svetlana V. Dudnik, 24, both of Rockford, Ill., are accused of using and trying to use "Liberty Dollars" at three Walworth businesses.

The U.S. Mint says the currency is illegal to use, but its creators say it's OK if both parties agree.

Kranish and Dudnik recently posted their story a new local blog site, walworthcorruption.blogspot.com.

They claim they were harassed by police, booked into jail and thrust into the court system for doing nothing wrong.

On May 6, Kranish attempted to pay for his meal at the Dari-Ripple in Walworth with a $20 "fine silver Liberty Dollar." Shortly after he gave it to the clerk, a police officer arrived and started asking him questions.

"I tried to explain that it was not against the law, that I was offering silver for trade ..." a writer claiming to be Kranish wrote on the blog site.

Kranish and Dudnik-who now are married, according to the blog posting-were arrested and taken to jail.

Kranish is charged with four counts of party to misdemeanor theft by fraud, and Dudnik is charged with three counts of party to misdemeanor theft and one count of party to attempted misdemeanor theft.

Kranish also was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. He had a .45 caliber handgun in a CD case in his car May 6, and he was wearing an empty holster, according to the criminal complaint.

Passing the buck

Walworth police had been tipped off about Liberty Dollars. They were notified of Liberty Dollars being used at the Walworth Landing gas station, Daniels Sentry and again at Dari-Ripple, all in late April, according to the complaint.

Dudnik told police she was with Kranish when he used the coins at the three locations, according to the complaint.

The cases are pending.

"I've spoken to many lawyers since this has happened, and they have all said the same thing-Walworth County, Wisconsin, is the most corrupt county in the state," Kranish wrote on his blog.

"They nail people, especially people from out of town or out of state. It's a huge racket, just like everywhere else. But in Walworth, they do whatever they want with impunity."

Kranish wondered why he couldn't get the silver pieces back from the stores and give them U.S. currency, as he had done before in Rockford, according to the posting.

Barter currency

Bernard von NotHaus, creator of the Liberty Dollar, argues the coins and paper currency are legal.

The company's Web site says the money can be used if both the seller and the buyer agree to use them as payment.

Von NotHaus even sued the federal government, claiming damage to his business from warning publicized by the U.S. Mint against using Liberty Dollars.

"The Liberty Dollar is a 'private voluntary barter' currency, which is not and has not been represented as 'legal tender,' 'coin' or 'current money' in the United States," according to the lawsuit.

The company, which says the currency is backed by silver and gold reserves, has "encouraged persons who utilize the barter currency to offer it to merchants as barter payment for goods and services but not as 'legal tender' or 'current money.'"

The company's Web site reminds users that Liberty Dollars are not U.S. currency, but it says to offer them "with the confidence that it will be accepted." It even gives a 12-step "how to use the Liberty Dollar" guide.

A spokesperson for the company did not reply to requests for interviews.

Is it legal?

Using Liberty Dollars as circulating currency could be a federal crime, according to the U.S. Mint. The federal government warned consumers and businesses last September that using the coins is a crime.

"They are not genuine United States Mint bullion coins and are not legal tender," according to warning on the Mint's Web site. "These medallions are privately produced products that are neither backed by, nor affiliated with, the United States government."

Kranish and Dudnik are facing charges in Walworth County because by using the coins they were "intentionally deceiving the persons with a false representation," according to the complaint.

After being told of the federal warning and U.S. Mint's stance, which is backed by the Department of Justice, Koss said the case theoretically could have gone to federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Mint says only the government may pass or create "any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metal, intended for use as current money."

The Mint also says the company is confusing consumers by saying Liberty Dollars are "legal" and "constitutional."

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Mint said she cannot comment about Liberty Dollars because of the lawsuit, but she said the situation was big enough that the Mint issued a rare consumer alert.

Rare here

The company says 100,000 Americans are circulating $20 million in Liberty Dollar currency. Few are around here.

Within a 50-mile radius of Janesville, only seven Wisconsin businesses and three in Illinois-none of which are retail outlets-are willing to accept the Liberty Dollar, according to the company's Web site.

Most of them also appear to be exchange outlets where people can turn in their Liberty Dollars for regular currency or vice versa.


Comments:

The federal government does not prosecute people who engage in trade. It doesn't matter if it's used bubble-gum, curling irons, toothpicks, or anything else you can name. No law can prohibit men and women from engaging in free trade like this. The government does not have a monopoly on the minting of gold and silver bullion medallions. A "coin" is a medallion issued by government. The Liberty Dollar is not, and never has claimed to be, a "coin." Shaun and Lana have never said they were "coins" either.

Why are the locals prosecuting a case that should be taken up by the federal government? This is because they no no crime has been committed -- but they still want to extract money from Shaun and Lana -- or should I say more money from the newly-wed couple.

The next confusion technique being used by this newspaper, the feds, and perhaps the locals, would be the use of the term "legal." "Legal" means created by law. However, we commonly use "legal" to mean "abiding by all laws." The actual word that should be used for this is "lawful." Something can be both illegal and perfectly lawful at the same time. For example: walking three dogs down the street. There is probably no law anywhere in the country that says you may specifically walk three dogs down the street. This means this act is illegal. However, since there is no law that says you may not, this act is also perfectly lawful. You may not be cited for walking three dogs down the street, just because no law says you can. Luckily for us, our rights are not created by law or government -- but rather bestowed upon us all equally at birth.

The U.S. Mint says only the government may pass or create "any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metal, intended for use as current money."

"They are not genuine United States Mint bullion coins and are not legal tender," according to warning on the Mint's Web site. "These medallions are privately produced products that are neither backed by, nor affiliated with, the United States government."

Indeed, by definition of "coin," only the government may create a "coin." It would literally be incorrect to suggest that anyone but a government can create a coin. However, this is not to say that all circular pieces of metal used in trade are "coins" -- this would also be incorrect. The Liberty Dollar has never claimed to be a coin of any type. So the mint is not lying here, but they are trying to mislead you into think you may not trade valuable gold and silver. They would like a monopoly on the creation of round metal discs to be used in trade -- this is their business. Thankfully and most fortunately, we have still retained our right to mint and trade medallions of our own. Our government does not use precious, valuable metals -- they use the cheapest stuff they can get away with. Silver and gold are precious and valuable -- this is why people like Shaun and Lana use and promote the Liberty Dollar.

So, we've established that they aren't "coins" created by the government. The Liberty Dollar is quite happy to admit this -- after all, the whole point of using this currency is that it is not created by government!

Within a 50-mile radius of Janesville, only seven Wisconsin businesses and three in Illinois-none of which are retail outlets-are willing to accept the Liberty Dollar, according to the company's Web site.

It was good of this paper to be forthcoming about the source of this. Although few businesses are listed on the Liberty Dollar website, many businesses, presumably hundreds or thousands, will accept the Liberty Dollar in both states. Shaun and Lana had quite a few businesses in their own town that happily accepted the currency -- vendors and retailers that appreciated receiving something of value in trade.

Kranish also was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. He had a .45 caliber handgun in a CD case in his car May 6, and he was wearing an empty holster, according to the criminal complaint.

How can one be arrested for carrying a weapon when it's in one's car? This is equivalent to being arrested for having open liquor in your car when it's in your refrigerator at home! According to our research, one statute in Wisconsin says that no firearms may be concealed. Another statute says that when you are transporting a firearm in your car, you must conceal it by putting it in some sort of container. This is very similar to the statutes in Illinois (Wisconsin and Illinois are the only two states that forbid citizens from carrying concealed firearms for personal protection). These two statutes in Wisconsin are obviously at odds with each other. According to the courts -- when it comes to transporting in a car -- the statute that requires a citizen to put it in a container overrules the other statute.

So...how did Mr. Kranish violate this statute. Mr. Kranish is the founder and executive director of a gun rights organization in Illinois. According to him, he has spent years researching the statutes and understanding them. He has also never been convicted of anything other than a traffic offense. He's never victimized anyone. This means he's not a criminal, but rather a law-abiding citizen. Why are they trying to prosecute him when he's going further than many people do and being careful to follow the statutes and avoid trouble?

While we're on the subject, how did the officer have probable cause to search the car anyhow? Kranish certainly did not consent to a search! After having been illegally and unlawfully arrested for offering solid silver in exchange for some food (what kind of moronic store attendant would refuse such an offer?), the officer then searched his car without warrant or probable cause? HOLY CRAP!!! Kranish's bumper stickers and empty holster must have made officer Kjendlie drool at the prospect of fishing for more "offenses" to create with the flick of his pencil -- offenses that would result in financial extraction(extortion) from Kranish and his family.

Offering Liberty Dollars cannot be a crime, unless you falsely represent them. Kranish knows the rules -- he has never said they were anything that they were not. There is no evidence -- indeed, nothing even in the charging documents that mention anything about a false representation (other than the name of the statute used for the charge). So where is the crime? Who is the victim? No crime ever even occurred -- let alone having been perpetrated by this innocent couple. There is no law that forbids the wearing of an empty holster. Kranish proved that well in Illinois when he won a criminal case and then smacked his college with a civil suit for having arrested him for wearing such a harmless device.

No victim. No crime. No probable cause. Yet they arrest, search without warrant, interrogate, hold in jail, bring before a judge and extort money on the pretenses of FELONY CHARGES that were never even charged! Thousands of dollars in bond money -- $5,200 total -- was extorted from this couple because the judge told them they were charged with felonies. They were never even charged -- they never received anything with felony charges. As far as we can tell -- no felony charges were ever filed.

WALWORTH COUNTY WISCONSIN HAS A CRIMINAL, CORRUPT, UNLAWFUL, ILLEGAL, EXTORTION RACKET UNDERWAY AND SHAUN KRANISH AND SVETLANA DUDNIK HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED BY IT!!!