If you thought counterfeiting rings were only the province of the Russian mafia — think again. Over the last few weeks, Oberlin’s men in blue rounded up a quartet of residents passing fake greenbacks.
A joint effort by the Oberlin Police Department, the Elyria Police and the Independence, Ohio arm of the Secret Service turned up four residents alleged to have slipped forged bills at a local restaurant and gas station.
“One guy had used the money … and it was returned to him by the restaurant,” Oberlin Detective Victor Ortiz said. “The three other guys tried to use it at a gas station, were unsuccessful, and later were successful using it at another gas station it town.”
Ortiz stated that the restaurant that had first returned the phony $100 bills after running them through a detection highlighter and determining that the bills were counterfeit.
Two of those arrested — Paris Lancaster and Brandon Smith — were nabbed after being stopped for speeding. The officer discovered secret indictments for the men when he ran their social security numbers in his computer.
“We didn’t have updated addresses for two of the subjects, one of which was in that vehicle,” Ortiz said.
A third man — Jacob Hammer was arrested two days later. A fourth was caught ambling down S. Main Street.
According to Ortiz, the bills passed were poor reproductions. The only reason they hadn’t been noticed, he said, was because the businesses were busy at the time, “so probably not as much attention was paid to the bill.”
Counterfeit money does pop up occasionally, Ortiz noted, and the Secret Service is always involved. The Service, which operates under the aegis of the Treasury, works locally in anti-counterfeiting efforts.
“We’ve had counterfeits here, but I’m not saying that it was a lot,” he said. “They’re usually coming here from Elyria. In fact, the two or three other cases that I’ve worked on, the bills originated in Elyria. In this particular case, it just so happened that a group of kids got together and just wanted to see what they could do, with the advent of all the technology and better printers. To me, they didn’t look authentic, the bills, but they look a lot better and they were able to pass them.”
Forging U.S. currency is a felony, punishable by a fine and up to 15 years in prison. Punishments aren’t always so severe, however.
In February, a Mississippi State running back pled guilty to passing counterfeit $100 bills. He was fined $500 and made to pay $500 in restitution.
Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department estimated that $49 billion of the $600 billion of U.S. currency in circulation was counterfeit. More than 5,000 individuals were arrested of the crime. Agents shuttered 651 counterfeiting plants.
About 20 percent of bogus currency is produced outside of the United States, with nearly half of it originating in Bulgaria and Colombia.
Ortiz said those receiving hundred dollar bills should check all security features. These include an offset watermark, color-shifting ink in the bottom right hand corner, a security thread that is visible when the bill is held to the light, and microprinting underneath the portrait.