Results tagged “counterfeit”

One enterprising Chicago teen is learning you can't sell fake money. The Secret Service arrested 18-year-old Arthur J. Williams III for selling counterfeit $100 bills. According to NBC 5:

The individual agreed to cooperate and purchased fake bills from Williams on three occasions. On June 16, Williams allegedly sold the person 24 counterfeit $100 bills for $480. He sold 30 additional bills for $600 on June 17, and another 10 for $200 on June 23, the complaint alleges. After each transaction, agents matched the serial numbers of the bogus bills and discovered counterfeits with the same numbers, totaling $112,900, had been passed in at least a dozen states nationwide in recent months.

Williams could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

Up in Wilmette, where apparently $100 bills are passed around like the clap, local businesses are on the lookout for fakes. Since Sunday there have been two instances of counterfeit bills being intercepted from restaurant patrons, both of whom seemed to have no idea their cash was phony. Police were called in both cases, but no word yet on whether just the one bill is terrorizing the neighborhood, or if it’s a full-blown epidemic. Store clerks have been instructed to hold $100 bills up to a light and check for security markings to determine authenticity. [Trib]