20 Years a Ghost: How a Teen Printed $10M and Conned the US Government (Video)

In this 6 February 2026 published video, host Danny Jones talks with Arthur J. “Art” Williams Jr., a former master counterfeiter from Chicago’s South Side who gained international notoriety for being the first to successfully replicate the high-security 1996-series $100 bill. Over a 15-year criminal career, he is estimated to have produced and distributed approximately $10 million in high-quality counterfeit currency. This is the insane true story of a teenager who built a million dollar empire of designing fake money.

Despite multiple arrests and prison sentences totaling 12 years, Williams repeatedly returned to counterfeiting until his final release. At one point, he even shared a prison cell with his son, who had followed him into the trade. 

https://youtu.be/0l76y27ZJlA

OUTLINE
00:00 – Counterfeiting the 1996 $100 bill
02:20 – The Satan Disciples of Chicago
04:37 – Gang politics in county jail
07:20 – Worst prison punishment
09:47 – What happened to Art’s dad
14:25 – How Art started counterfeiting
16:45 – How the banks take old bills out of circulation
21:28 – Working for “da Vinci”
31:28 – How counterfeit money is made
37:43 – The paper used for counterfeit money
43:38 – The $100 bill that can’t be counterfeit
46:20 – Best paper for fake money
50:04 – Why Art BURNED his money
51:21 – Using superglue to remove fingerprints
57:06 – Helping others with counterfeit money
01:02:42 – How to spend fake money
01:08:16 – Printing $250k per week
01:10:26 – getting shot by a rival gang
01:16:52 – Scalise & the Marlborough diamond robbery
01:23:52 – Donating to kids with fake money
01:30:15 – When Art reunited with his dad
01:37:08 – Art’s dad’s secret underground grow room
01:43:16 – Meeting the president of the Hell’s Angels
01:45:38 – How Art got caught
01:53:12 – The day Art got released from prison
01:59:05 – Counterfeiting is harder to quit than heroin
02:01:43 – Cashless society & robot police
02:08:54 – Thomas Jefferson’s warning about revolution
02:16:14 – America’s divide was predicted 30 years ago
02:21:27 – How to fix the worst parts of the country
02:30:42 – How Art escaped poverty
02:32:37 – Why universal basic income won’t work
02:36:22 – Norway’s $250k birthright
02:40:26 – International prisons vs. American prisons
02:44:48 – Trying to counterfeit the Euro
02:50:30 – Speaking to a room of homeland security agents
02:56:26 – The day Art got arrested for his son’s crime
03:05:29 – The start of Art’s art career
03:08:09 – Working with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s charity
03:12:28 – Art’s $100 bill cowboy hat
03:18:59 – Art’s new projects
03:22:46 – Art’s newest gallery
03:26:07 – Top secret art supplies