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Dead Body of Counterfeiter Removed from Ballona Wetlands

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 63-year-old Black male that occurred at the Ballona Wetlands.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Tekle Zigetta.

Manner and cause of death have not yet been determined

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Saturday at 10:25 a.m.

Back in January 2006, Tekle Zigetta made news headlines when he pleaded guilty to three federal counts of trying to bring cash, phony bills and a fake $100,000 gold certificate into the United States.

Further investigation of Tekle led U.S. Customs agents to a West Hollywood apartment where they found the stash of yellowing and wrinkled $1 billion bills with an issue date of 1934 and bearing a picture of President Grover Cleveland. “You would think the $1 billion denomination would be a giveaway that these notes are fake, but some people are still taken in,” said James Todak, a secret services agent involved in the probe.



Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is a protected area that once served as the natural estuary for neighboring Ballona Creek. The 577-acre site is located in Los Angeles County, just south of Marina del Rey. Ballona -— the second-largest open space within the city limits of Los Angeles, behind Griffith Park -— is owned by the state of California and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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