Mountain Xpress
June 8th, 2009
By, David Forbes
Asheville resident William Kevin Innes, known for running
the local branch of the Liberty Dollar private currency, was
arrested June 2 on charges of trying to pass off coins as U.S.
currency. The arrest came as part of a countrywide sweep of
the organization’s officials.
An announcement from the Justice Department alleges that
Innes, along with Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von
NotHaus and two other employees of the Liberty Services,
the company that made the currency, were engaged in a
conspiracy to pass off their product as legal tender.
The federal indictment also alleges that the intent of Liberty
Services is to put the Liberty Dollar into circulation and have it
compete with U.S. currency. Liberty Dollars are backed by
precious metals (gold or silver), and Liberty Services tries to encourage businesses to accept
them. The indictment further charges Innes and Nothaus with counts of mail fraud. Innes could
face a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
“When groups seek to undermine the U.S. currency system, the government is compelled to
act. These coins are not government-produced coinage, yet purchasers were led to believe by
those who made and sold them that they should be spent like U.S. Federal Reserve Notes,”
Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Ryan declares in the announcement. “Such claims are in
violation of federal law.”
This isn’t the first time Innes or the Liberty Dollar operation has faced federal heat. The
affidavit for a 2007 federal raid on Liberty Services’ Evansville, Ind., headquarters listed Innes,
and the order for that raid originated in Asheville
(http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/112807silver/). The affidavit also said this area was
one of top centers for Liberty Dollar distribution in the country (the others being Austin, Texas,
and Berryville, Ark.)
In the aftermath, Innes asserted that he has never said the Liberty Dollar are legal tender, has
specifically shied away from using the word “coins” to describe them and had gone to local
police to seek assurances that the activities of his organization were within the law.
“If we’re criminals, why were we going to the police and being out in the open?” Innes said at
the time.
The legal status of the coins is murky, with some federal agencies issuing warnings against
their use, while others have dismissed them as an issue. For example, in 2006, the U.S. Mint
issued a statement saying that using the coins in place of standard currency was criminal. But
in the same year, a Treasury Department official told media that if merchants wished to accept
the coins, they were free to do so.
Local or private currencies are not unheard of — in specific towns or resorts, for example —
and have not generally faced legal challenges. What differentiates the Liberty Dollar, however,
is its nationwide reach and the precious metals in the product.
After his arrest, Innes made a brief appearance before a federal magistrate in Asheville and
was ordered detained until a detention hearing in Charlotte, scheduled for today.


Commentary
What is wrong about having a currency that is backed by real tangable assets?

This guy is a real example of the type of people needed to get this country in standing. The Government can not have a currency out there which actually has some value behind it. This would undermind the current non-value system. Although Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von
NotHaus does not know me personally,( I recognize him by his photo in the press) I did have the ocassion to join with him at a "We The People" convention in Asheville NC. If I knew of his venture, I would have invested.

We need to stand behind our liberty brother in any way we can.

Dan