LEWISTON – There is funny money floating around the Twin Cities, and this time police believe it may involve more than a few stray bucks.
At least four businesses in Lewiston and Auburn this week have reported receiving $100 bills that later proved to be counterfeit, police said. Three people have been taken into custody.
On Wednesday, as police in both cities investigated the bogus cash, a woman in Lewiston was caught with 10 of the fake $100 bills after she was pulled over for a driving violation.
“We want local merchants to know that these things are out there,” said police Lt. Tom Avery, “and it appears there are a lot of them. Our job now is to determine how big the problem is and see if we can find a common source.”
With potentially thousands of dollars in counterfeit cash being circulated across the area, police have notified the Secret Service. Agents from the federal agency are expected to join the investigation.
Police said the woman caught with the $1,000 in bogus bills on Wednesday is being questioned. On Wednesday night, at about 10 p.m., police were called to 7-Eleven on Main Street, where a man and woman were reportedly acting suspiciously outside the store.
When police went to investigate that complaint, they found the couple in possession of some of the fake bills. The pair was taken to the police station to be questioned. It was not immediately disclosed how much of the fake loot they were accused of carrying.
Meanwhile, investigators were gathering up as many of the fake bills as they could while the probe continued.
Police said there is one quick and simple way to distinguish the bills from genuine money: Each of the counterfeits bears the same serial number, Avery said.
The number is AE77665544B.
The bills also do not contain a watermark, as genuine money does. Local police said their immediate priority is to let banks, stores and citizens know that the funny money is out there. That priority is expected to shift when Secret Service agents begin searching for the source of the bogus cash.
Anyone who receives one of the fake bills is being asked to contact his or her local police department.
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