The Henderson Police Department and the Giles County Sheriffs Department have both reported a rise in counterfeit bills used in Tennessee. In both jurisdictions, authorities have made arrests of suspects caught using fake bills.
Giles County Sheriff Kyle Helton told WKRN News about the rise in his area, noting the serial numbers on the bills totaling over $1,000 were identical. One man was arrested in Pulaski County after purchasing a car with counterfeit money, and another man yet to be identified in Giles County also purchased a car with counterfeit bills.
John Robinson, the man arrested in Pulaski, also used the fake bills to purchase food in two county-area stores.
Helton said that when accepting hundred-dollar bills, to check and make sure they’re real. “If you have any doubt about it, give us a call.”
He told WKRN that he believes the two men are involved in a bigger counterfeit scheme.
In Hendersonville, the Police Department posted on their Facebook account that they, too, have arrested a suspect over the alleged use of counterfeit money. According to their statement, Clifton Odel used fake hundred-dollar bills from December 21 – 29 at multiple locations.
Odel is currently on a $52,500 bond and scheduled to appear before the Sumner County General Sessions Court on February 9th.
The Tennessee Star spoke on the phone with Investigator Tyson from the Giles County Sheriff’s Department, and he said that there is no connection between the Hendersonville counterfeit case and the case in Giles County.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, there was a total of 5,502 reports of counterfeit/forgery across the state of Tennessee during 2020. From that, there were 1,297 arrests made, and 14 were juveniles. In Nashville, 31 arrests were from counterfeit/forgery charges.
The United States Secret Service has a guide available to recognize authentic currency. Some ways are to check the watermarks on the bills and to check for the security thread (the security thread will not be present on $1 and $2 bills.)
If anyone thinks they have been given a counterfeit bill, the United States Treasury says to not put themselves in danger, and to contact either the local Police Department or local Secret Service Office. Then, they ask people to to put their initials on the white border of the bill, and put the bill inside of an envelope, plastic bag, or cover until they are able to hand it to a law enforcement officer.
According to the Secret Service, there was a total of 2 million counterfeit bills collected in 2021, totaling over $110 million.
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
So are you saying that more federal reserve notes are being passed in the local market?