RIO HONDO — When a customer handed the cashier at the Broken Well liquor store a $20 bill, it was just placed in the cash register like any other bill.
It wasn’t until late that night when the fake $20 bill was discovered.
The store attendant said nobody could pinpoint the customer who paid with a fake $20 with their surveillance camera, so they waited before reporting the crime to police in case the same customer came back to buy with more fake money.
And they were right. Two days later the cashier was slipped another $20 for cigar rolling paper, an item that costs $1.
The attendant said they confronted the woman who paid with fake money, but she left the store anyway.
“We ended up with a substantial pile of their attempt to recreate the counterfeit money,” said William Bilokury, Rio Hondo public safety director.
Rio Hondo police would not release the name of the suspect because the case remains under investigation.
Police said the woman was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and endangerment to a child.
“We had received information from the local businesses that counterfeit money was being passed,” Bilokury said. “We had a suspect from video surveillance.”
He said they were able to find out where the suspect resided after investigating the video surveillance from the Broken Well liquor store.
Police searched the suspect’s garbage and found evidence that police used to generate a search warrant.
Bilokury said a substantial pile of fake U.S. currency was found.
Bilokury said the search warrant was executed at a local home after more than $2,000 of printed $20 bills were found in the residence’s trash.
“They were already cleaning out the house with all the counterfeit money and that is why we discovered it,” Bilokury said.
He said several occupants of the house provided statements on how counterfeit money was created and police also seized a half a pound of marijuana and some drug paraphernalia.
“This happens all the time,” Bilokury said. “If we’re getting hit that means there is more of this money elsewhere and other people are doing it.”
The store attendant at the Broken Well said they swiped the bill with their counterfeit detection pen and it checked out, but when the cashier put the bill up to the light the president’s watermark hologram was missing.
Pizza Express restaurant owner Maria Lucio said customers paid for food with four fake $10 bills last month during the lunch hour rush.
“Now we are being more careful,” Lucio said. “The police came and picked up the fake money.”
* Feel the texture of the paper. Counterfeit money will often feel distinctly different from authentic money.
* Notice the thinness of the bill. Genuine money is often thinner than counterfeit money.
* Compare the bill with another of the same denomination and series. Different denominations will look different, so get a note of the same amount.
* Hold the bill up to the light. For all bills except $1 and $2 dollar bills, there should be a security thread (plastic strip) running from top to bottom.
* Check for watermarks. Use natural light to see if your bill bears an image of the person whose portrait is on the bill.
Source: www.wikihow.com/Detect-Counterfeit-US-Money
