There is a daily feature in the St. Paul Pioneer Press called Bulletin Board. It is much like the Mudcat Forum BS threads except that there is an editor, so only the best stuff gets published. Anything that is selected for publication is usually printed unchanged. The following appeared in today's column, submitted by someone who uses the handle Sleepless from St. Paul (in Minneapolis). I have only taken the liberty of converting it to mixed upper- and lower-case; the e-mail from "Mrs. Sese-Sekoh" was printed in all caps. It appears to be the same letter that Bat Goddess received back in October.

The news reports of large sums of cash being found around Baghdad reminded me of a bizarre e-mail my brother received last year in Big Lake, a town one would not normally associate with international intrigue:

From: Mrs. D. Sese-Sekoh

Dear friend,

I am Mrs. Debra Sese-Seko widow of late president Mobutu Sese-Seko of Zaire? Now known as Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I am moved to write you this letter, this was in confidence considering my present circumstance and situation.

I escaped along with my husband and two of our sons Kennedy and Basher out of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire where my family and I settled, while we later moved to settled in Morroco where my husband later died of cancer disease. However due to this situation we decided to changed most of my husband's billions of dollars deposited in Swiss bank and other countries into other forms of money coded for safe purpose because the new head of state of (DR) Mr. Laurent Kabila has made arrangement with the Swiss government and other European countries to freeze all my late husband's treasures deposited in some European countries. Hence my children and I decided laying low in Africa to study the situation till when things gets better, like now that president Kabila is dead and the son taking over (Joseph Kabila). One of my late husband's chateaux in southern France was confiscated by the French government, and as such I had to change my identity so that my investment will not be traced and confiscated. I have deposited the sum of eihgteen mllion United State dollars (US$18,000,000,00.) with a security company, for safekeeping. The funds are security coded to prevent them from knowing the content. What I want you to do is to indicate your interest that you will assist us by receiving the money on our behalf. Acknowledge this message, so that I can introduce you to my son (Kennedy) who has the out modalities for the claim of the said funds. I want you to assist in investing this money, but I will not want my identity revealed. I will also want to buy properties and stock in multi-national companies and to engage in other safe and non-speculative investments. May I at this point emphasise the high level of confidentiality, which this business demands, and hope you will not betray the trust and confidence, which I repose in you. In conclusion, if you want to assist us, my son shall put you in the picture of the business, tell you where the funds are currently being maintained and also discuss other modalities including remuneration for your services.

For this reason kindly furnish us your contact information, that is your personal telephone and fax number for confidential purpose and acknowledge receipt of this mail

Best regards,

Mrs. D. Sese Seko

While our family has always had a soft spot for the plight of the families of deposed dictators, my brother is not really in a position to assist Kennedy with his out modalities, whatever they are. And, as his friend Dan H. observed: "I'd avoid having anything to do with someone named Basher!" It was also suggested that this could be a scam. Readers' insights are welcome.