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* In Europe, it ''is'' possible to cram an obscene amount of euros into that same briefcase: using €500 bills and assuming each bill has a thickness of 0.16 mm, a briefcase as described above can hold €6,350,000 ($8,550,275 USD), whereas an attaché case can hold up to €3,213,000 ($4,326,304 USD). In fact, euros have become popular with organized crime -- so popular, in fact, that in May 2016 the ECB announced it would stop printing €500 bills by 2018 and all central banks in the eurozone stopped issuing them by April 2019, though they are still legal tender.
* There exists a simple mechanism precisely designed for the impersonal transfer of arbitrarily large amounts of money: a handy little financial instrument called a ''bearer bond''. It weighs as much as the one sheet of paper it's printed on, it's completely negotiable -- in effect, currency -- at any major bank, it's untraceable for practical purposes, and it can carry a huge face value, even into the hundreds of millions.[[note]] Though anyone showing you a briefcase full of these denominated in US dollars is most likely lying - the Treasury severely curtailed their printing in 1982 and has never issued bearer bonds greater than $1 million. You also still have to pay income taxes on the interest - normal bonds are exempt.[[/note]] Unfortunately, criminals outside the sort of movies in which Interpol might be a factor never seem to think of this and lug around heavy briefcases full of money through, say, Customs. In real life, lugging that much money around with a legitimate reason across borders typically requires you to declare it to Customs, which can be a bit of a headache since overzealous agents might be a bit too eager to pull you to one side if you don’t show the goods, the paperwork, or both in prompt fashion.
* A lot of banks have started making this trope hard to play straight by restricting the amount of cash private individuals can withdraw at once as well as imposing other restrictions (the usual excuse was that it reduces the amount of money tellers have on hand, which reduces the amount of money bank robbers can steal at one time). HSBC[[note]][[{{Irony}} The bank who got caught laundering money for the Colombian mob a while back]][[/note]] were recently caught up in a minor brouhaha in the British press because they were asking people intrusive personal questions about why they needed £3,000[[note]]a little under US$5,000 at time of writing[[/note]] or more in cash.
* If you want to invoke this trope, obtaining large amounts of banknotes from your own bank account is fairly easy, if a bit of a hassle for the bank depending on where you are - most banks allow account holders to request withdrawal orders in the denomination of their choice, so if you wanted to fill a suitcase with, say, a few thousand $1 bills, a quick call to the bank with such a request and a few days of waiting will net you a selection of stacks to use at your own discretion. Just make sure to keep the straps holding the money together, as when the time comes to deposit all that cash back into your account, it will be much easier for both you and the teller to count it all up.
* There exists a simple mechanism precisely designed for the impersonal transfer of arbitrarily large amounts of money: a handy little financial instrument called a ''bearer bond''. It weighs as much as the one sheet of paper it's printed on, it's completely negotiable -- in effect, currency -- at any major bank, it's untraceable for practical purposes, and it can carry a huge face value, even into the hundreds of millions.[[note]] Though anyone showing you a briefcase full of these denominated in US dollars is most likely lying - the Treasury severely curtailed their printing in 1982 and has never issued bearer bonds greater than $1 million. You also still have to pay income taxes on the interest - normal bonds are exempt.[[/note]] Unfortunately, criminals outside the sort of movies in which Interpol might be a factor never seem to think of this and lug around heavy briefcases full of money through, say, Customs. In real life, lugging that much money around with a legitimate reason across borders typically requires you to declare it to Customs, which can be a bit of a headache since overzealous agents might be a bit too eager to pull you to one side if you don’t show the goods, the paperwork, or both in prompt fashion.
* A lot of banks have started making this trope hard to play straight by restricting the amount of cash private individuals can withdraw at once as well as imposing other restrictions (the usual excuse was that it reduces the amount of money tellers have on hand, which reduces the amount of money bank robbers can steal at one time). HSBC[[note]][[{{Irony}} The bank who got caught laundering money for the Colombian mob a while back]][[/note]] were recently caught up in a minor brouhaha in the British press because they were asking people intrusive personal questions about why they needed £3,000[[note]]a little under US$5,000 at time of writing[[/note]] or more in cash.
* If you want to invoke this trope, obtaining large amounts of banknotes from your own bank account is fairly easy, if a bit of a hassle for the bank depending on where you are - most banks allow account holders to request withdrawal orders in the denomination of their choice, so if you wanted to fill a suitcase with, say, a few thousand $1 bills, a quick call to the bank with such a request and a few days of waiting will net you a selection of stacks to use at your own discretion. Just make sure to keep the straps holding the money together, as when the time comes to deposit all that cash back into your account, it will be much easier for both you and the teller to count it all up.
