Thrusday, January 14, 1999
Suspect charged with passing counterfeit money
More arrests are expected over bogus bills
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — One suspect was arrested this week and up to 10 more may be arrested today in connection with a large counterfeiting ring that passed bogus $100, $50 and $20 bills here last month.
Meanwhile, a separate investigation is continuing by lo cal police and the U.S. Secret Service into what appears to be a second counterfeiting operation, Middletown Police Detective Jeff Chase said Wednesday. This week a handful of counterfeit $20 bills were passed at two local fast food chains, and they showed up at one bank.
On Tuesday, Phillip Dukes, of the 800 block of Grand Avenue, Dayton, was arrested on counterfeiting charges, Charles Brady, U.S. Secret Secret special agent in charge, said Wednesday.
Mr. Dukes is accused of manufacturing, passing and dealing in counterfeit money, including $100s, $50s and $20s, Mr. Brady said.
Mr. Dukes was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Dayton, and released on a personal surety bond.
The net is also about to close on several others suspects in the Middletown/Dayton area who will face local and federal charges, Detective Chase said.
“We know who all the players are and we confiscated a computer yesterday,” Detective Chase said Wednesday. “We already have confessions from four people in Middletown,” and a couple more from Dayton are being interviewed, he said.
The investigation by Middletown Police and Secret Service agents began in mid-December after counterfeit $100s and $50s were passed at about 10 businesses. Police confiscated more than $1,000 worth of the larger bills through the end of the year. A few $20s showed up during that same period.
“This has gotten a lot bigger and wider than we imag ined,” Det. Chase said.
No fake $50s and $100s have been found this year, said Middletown Major Mike Bruck. The $20s just reappeared this week, he said.
Sandy Mehl, assistant manager at Wendy's on Breiel Boulevard, said employees there had been alerted to double check $100s and $50s, but the bad $20 caught an employee off guard and it slipped through Jan. 10.
Last summer some Cincinnati merchants called police to report people trying to pass fake copies of the old version of the $20 bill, which felt odd and didn't pass the marking pen test, said Paul Meyer, a detective in Cincinnati's District 5 covering the northwest part of the city.
The reports alone weren't unusual, but serial numbers matched those on other fake bills passed, leading police to believe the same person copied the bills, Detective Meyer said.
He was uncertain how much money was involved, but “there's a lot of it floating around there,” he said.
Cincinnati, Middletown and other police agencies are collaborating with the Secret Service to see whether the cases are related.
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