Thrusday, December 24, 1998
Counterfeiters hit Middletown area
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — Beware: the bills paying for those Christmas bikes, Barbies and Nintendos might be bogus.
About a dozen area stores and businesses have unwittingly put counterfeit currency in their tills since the bills began circulating in the area in the past 10 days, said Middletown Police Maj. Greg Schwarber.
Two separate rings appear to be involved. One is passing $100s and $50s, and another has $20s, said Detective Jeff Chase. Several hundred dollars' worth of phony bills have slipped past clerks, he said.
“We suspect they're coming out of this general area,” he said.
Middletown police, who are working with the U.S. Secret Service, have interviewed several people in connection with the case. Arrests are imminent, Maj. Schwarber said.
Detective Chase said suspects have been identified. Charges, which could come later this week, will include felonies and misdemeanors, he said, although he declined to give details.
Many of the businesses that have been hit are in the Towne Mall area, including Bugle Boy, Dollar Tree and Kohls. Speedway, at Breiel and Roosevelt, and the Ranch Inn Lounge, on Tytus, also got phony bills, Detective Chase said.
Jack Tillett Jr., Speedway manager, said a third-shift clerk at his store made change for two phony $50 bills Dec. 21 minutes apart.
A clerk accepted the bills for minor purchases and provided each customer with about $36 in change, Mr. Tillett said. He said he spotted the bills as phony when he arrived. They appeared to have been made on a copier, felt strange, and had the same serial numbers, Mr. Tillett said.
The holiday season is “not so jolly if you get ripped off,” Mr. Tillett said. “We've been hit once — that's the last time. We're making sure our people are doubly aware. We have the serial numbers on the registers.”
Charlie Brady, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Cincinnati office, confirmed that agency is investigating. The counterfeit bills are poor fakes, but “this is such a busy time of the year, people can be fooled more easily,” Detective Chase said.
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