Ocala Police detectives are warning area residents and merchants to be on the lookout for counterfeit $100 bills.
Two detectives have been working several counterfeit cases involving $100 bills over the past several weeks. They reported that the bills all have the same serial number and Asian markings on the back of them. And in some cases, they say, attempts have been made to erase the markings.
Counterfeit bills have been in the news in the tri-county area quite often lately:
- Last month, a Summerfield woman brought a box containing a sack of counterfeit $100 bills and drug paraphernalia to the Marion County Sheriff’s South Marion District Office in The Villages. The 45-year-old woman, who lives in the 6400 block of SE 174th Place, told a sheriff’s deputy she found the items in her home and believed her 21-year-old son was responsible.
- Also in June, a man fled from the CVS Pharmacy in Summerfield after attempting to purchase items with a $100 bill that proved to be a fake. The manager said she told the man she was going to call law enforcement and he dropped his items and left the store, located at 17817 SE 109th Ave.
- In February, an Ocala third-grader created quite a stir when he brought a counterfeit $100 bill to Legacy Elementary School. The facility’s cafeteria manager said the student brought the bill to her to ask if it was real and she confiscated it.
- This past August, Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrested a couple that had drugs and $15,510 in counterfeit bill money in 100-, 50- and 20-dollar bills in their vehicle. Ten of the bills contained the same serial number, which confirmed they were counterfeit.
- Also in August, a customer attempted to pay a tab at Oxford Downs, located at 17996 S. U.S. Hwy. 301 in Summerfield, with a counterfeit $50 bill. The bartender reported that the customer at the Cardroom & Tiki Bar paid with other currency after being informed the money was fake.