Denominations illustrates a Colombian money counterfeiter network infiltrated by a US Secret Service decoy bank, lead by informant Sebastian Juanez - a native Colombian whose father is enslaved by the counterfeiters. It's based in the late 90s/early 2000s, in Colombia and Texas. The coming of age journey that Sebastian takes from South America to the US is the story core. Some dialog and scenes are based on missions lead by my tactical advisor and former Secret Service agent that operated a notorious anti-counterfeit task force in Colombia. 

SYNOPSIS:

DENOMINATIONS - FEATURE SPEC SCRIPT SYNOPSIS by Joe Esposito

ACT ONE-

In darkness, we hear footsteps crunching atop a wilderness floor. A machete slashes a branch to expose a young man, hooded, escorted by two men to a deep-jungle hideout house. A late 1980s mass at Buenaventura Cathedral. SEBASTIAN is 8 years old when he meets BRUTO (50s) - we see his gawdy green emerald ring as he exchanges peace with Sebastian’s father IGNACIO (60s). Later, the family picnics at a beautiful coastal area known as The Field. We meet young PAMELITA, Sebastian’s childhood sweetheart. They etch their initials into the trunk of ‘Lovers’ Tree.’ We also meet young and orphanesque Andres.

Every night Sebastian sees his father come home exhausted after mining for nickel. A series of shots shows it smelted to make fake Colombian coins. Uncle CESAR is younger than Ignacio but higher rank (B Story). Fatherless, Andres helps out the counterfeiters. Ignacio receives a letter stating a bank has purchased the mine he works in. Days later, the mine collapses, trapping 5 men. Bruto and JEFE —his right hand man— abandon the mine, leaving them for dead.

We age leap to the late 1990s. Pamelita pressures Sebastian to condone the counterfeiter operations. Ignacio, painfully aware of his Catch 22, advises his son your education is the one thing in this world that no one can take from you. As one of many shell companies, Bruto runs a paper mill called Papiers Stadacona and authorizes destruction of Colombian forests. They formulate ‘money paper’ and transport it to the Print Shop (from the opening scene). Their batch of 10,000 Peso notes are so well-crafted that the public accepts the counterfeits as real, and the new government versions as fake. GENERAL RESTREPO, the new head of anti-counterfeiting in Colombia, vows to dismantle the operation. Days before Sebastian leaves for college in the US, Pamelita goes missing. She’s found in bad condition chained to Lovers’ Tree, though more evident is The Field that surrounds her has been bulldozed flat. Ignacio mysteriously appears at the last moment.

ACT TWO-

Sebastian’s now in TEXAS at college studying finance. He’s ‘awarded’ a job at a local Lone Star bank, befriends a local nun and two customers, RON and MADELYN, who presumably work at a gentleman’s club. For that reason, Ron frequently withdraws thousands of $1 bills. Sebastian’s bank boss WILLIAM is in cahoots with Cesar, and orchestrates a counterfeit drop, framing Sebastian in collusion with the local church. It happens on Christmas Eve of 1999, the week leading up to Y2K, when banks were preparing to suffer crippling glitches. Sebastian is busted at the bank passing counterfeits to Ron and Madelyn who reveal themselves as Secret Service agents. They present Sebastian with two options:

One- Act as an employee at a new decoy bank, take down the counterfeiters. No timetable.

Two- Stand trial for money laundering crimes, have his counterfeit-traceable tuition deposits investigated, potentially vacating 7 semesters of his college education.

Knowing that either option could jeopardize his degree, Sebastian works with the Secret Service. Operation Cowboy begins, Sebastian and the agents open the decoy (New Bank) and train day and night for the set up. Andres smuggles counterfeits from Colombia to Texas, Sebastian brings him to a poker room (Madelyn as dealer, Ron as a player) to illustrate the money wash. Sebastian then wires funds back to multiple shell accounts in Colombia. Andres is gifted a quality pair of cowboy boots with hidden GPS trackers in the heels. Madelyn has an expert eye for verifying money authenticity, as does Sebastian. She empathizes with his long-distance woes with Pamelita, more complicated now since he was supposed to come home for Christmas (but instead was framed).

While Madelyn also speaks Spanish, we learn that Ron, who earned a degree in Hispanic studies, does not. Back in Colombia Bruto and his crew now print the newly-released 20,000 Peso. We meet JOHAN, Andres’ father, just released from prison for 17 years. Cesar still coordinates deals with William who has been promoted to Lone Star’s corporate office in Houston.

We also meet Secret Service field agents JOE and ANGELA who have been based near Cali for years. Angela covers as a curious shopper in Pamelita’s boutique, exchanging numbers with her. In Texas, the operation only nets shell companies and Andres is now demanding he get a personal cut from New Bank’s commission. Via flashback we see that Pamelita tied herself to Lovers’ Tree at The Field, with her life saved by Ignacio. Yet she still suffered immensely at the hands of the logger men.

At the Secret Service field office, Sebastian fumes when he sees his photo on a counterfeiter organization chart. Ron explains that he remains a criminal accomplice until he proves otherwise. Angered, Sebastian vows to the Secret Service director that he will return to Colombia and find the people behind the shells, which will include his uncle Cesar.

ACT THREE-

Society is saturated with counterfeit money, Ignacio now suffers from black lung. Andres is arrested at the Panama Canal, but is bailed out by an unknown source - until the phone is put on speaker and we hear Ron switch from terrible Spanish to English. Pamelita believes Sebastian works for the counterfeiters. He fails at infiltrating their network, and is robbed in public. Sebastian has an epiphany, changes his salesmanship tactics and nets most of the shell network’s info; of note VICTOR invests.

Joe dies of injuries sustained while chasing the thief who robbed Sebastian. This forces Ron and Madelyn to transfer to Colombia. Pamelita leads a fundraising effort to get The Field sanctioned as a national park, but receives paltry church donations. Across town, Bruto and Jefe conspire to print the newly released 50,000 Peso. Sebastian still has to find out where the US money is being printed. Victor offers to fund Pamelita’s park with a contingent loan - directly tied his deal with Sebastian. Essentially turning her park's charitable account into a shell.

Via a hidden letter in his parent’s house, Sebastian finds out that he was not withdrawn from college this semester, and is now academically disqualified due to absence.

In the dead of night, Sebastian is hooded and taken to the print shop, returning us to the opening scene. He’s told that instead of the US $100, the 50,000 Peso will be printed. But he convinces the crew to let him run one batch of the US $100. He shows them all of the counterfeiting nuances they’ve missed - ink mixtures, serial number details... they decide that Sebastian has to be working with the authorities, throw him in a holding cell and reveal that they secretly recorded him counterfeiting, shifting leverage in their favor. In this cell Sebastian finds some of the $1 bills he gave to Ron back in Texas. He’s now forced to work for the counterfeiters, and Bruto uses Sebastian’s family (and Pamelita) as blackmail.

Back to the B story, we learn Johan was wrongly convicted of killing Bruto’s brother 17 years ago — it was Cesar. This lead to Cesar’s high rank as Bruto wanted his brother dead. The incident forced Andres to grow up fatherless. Johan disguises himself as a logger and reveals this all to Ignacio. Before he can probe, Ignacio is taken and brought to the print shop.

Andres is captured by Secret Service and flipped to inform as he now can save his father and Ignacio. After Ron fails to explain the mission strategy in English to the assembled Colombian police squad, Andres takes over (deflating Ron’s ego). Madelyn rescues and protects Pamelita and Sebastian’s mother and sister. Secret Service raid the print shop, Johan kills Cesar.

Sebastian heads to the marina and tries to find counterfeit evidence in Bruto’s boat. He’s unable to break the boat cabin safe when Bruto frantically boards and speeds out of the marina. Sebastian fires a flare from the cabin, a back and forth fight finally ends when Sebastian shoots a flare gun up into his beard. He steals Bruto’s emerald ring and gives a SALUTE to the Colombian Navy who he radioed for rescue. The rest of the organization is arrested, Jefe kills himself. Bruto’s boat contains a safe with printing plates, a ledger — case-winning evidence.

Pamelita and Sebastian reunite. She takes environmental classes at his university and opens an eBay store for her clothing boutique. Sebastian graduates. It’s the end of 2001 and the collapse of Enron exposes a Colombian shell with ties to the the 50,000 Peso. Lone Star stock tanks, and a new Secret Service criminal org chart shows William at top as Sebastian and his family exchange the sign of peace in church.

THE WRITER THANKS: MARINO RODILLA, US Secret Service Assistant to Special Agent In Charge (ATSAIC): 1975-1993. Colombia anti-counterfeiting task force leader. ATSAIC International Squad at Miami Field Office.