Excerpt:
Prosecutors highlighted “about $10,000 — $8,000 in U.S. dollars and then $2,000 in foreign currency that was found on his person,” CNN correspondent Danny Freeman said following the court hearing.
“Also they said that he had a Faraday bag,” which blocks cell signals, a move that prosecutors alleged marked “an indication of criminal sophistication and reason they should hold him on bail,” Freeman continued.
After prosecutors made the claims, Mangione said he would like to “correct two things.”
“I don’t know where any of that money came from — I’m not sure if it was planted. And also, that bag was waterproof, so I don’t know about criminal sophistication,” the suspect said in a statement that suggested police framed him.
Seems like the typical American Scapegoat™. I wonder what “foreign currency” they’re referring to… Feels like an urge from US authorities to use this case as “muh [placeholder for the name of some imaginary international bogeyman which US authorities believe it’s under their beds right now]”.
Something that’s one of the most sold products from Amazon, Shopee, AliExpress, among other marketplaces. For example, it’s sold even in some major grocery stores here in Brazil, so I imagine that a similar scenario happens in the US.
It’s got protection especially for contactless cards (so these cards can’t be used at a distance for paying things the cardholder isn’t aware of), and it generally offers some water protection (it’s not expected to be diving together at some beach with the cardholder, but it’d definitely offer some protection against spills and minimal soaked clothes due to rain, for example).