Grocery clerk’s suspicion about $100 bill leads to seizure of about $11,000 in counterfeit cash
New Westminster police credit a cashier for detecting thousands of dollars in counterfeit bills.
The New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) said police received a call about 7 a.m. on March 12 from a local Safeway store, where a cashier had suspicions about a $100 bill.
“The teller had suspicions about the bill and worked with an on-site security guard to compare it to a genuine $100 bill. After doing this, they called police,” said Hailey Finnigan, the NWPD’s communications officer. “An officer arrested a man and seized both drugs and approximately $11,000 in counterfeit bills.”
The fake bills were in $100 and $50 denominations. Police continue to investigate the source of these counterfeit bills.
According to the police department, charges are being considered relating to fraud under $5,000 and possession of counterfeit currency.
“The bills have a holographic sticker applied, which has a raised edge that can catch on a fingernail,” Finnigan said. “Genuine bills have the hologram integrated into the bill and do not have a raised sticker-like edge.”
Once the New Westminster Police Department has processed the seized evidence, the counterfeit bills will be sent to the Bank of Canada.
READ: Vancouver retailers applaud anti-theft task force amid 'egregious' shoplifting spike
Finnigan said the NWPD’s Criminal Intelligence Unit shares information with other police agencies about these kinds of incidents.
New Westminster isn’t the only B.C. community where counterfeit bills have been detected in recent weeks. Mounties in North Vancouver and Nanaimo have both issued warnings about counterfeit bills.
On March 2, North Vancouver RCMP issued a news release warning the public about an increase in counterfeit $50 and $100 Canadian bank notes being circulated on the North Shore. In the release, the North Vancouver RCMP stated it had received at least 11 separate reports of high-quality counterfeit $50 and $100 bank notes being used at various businesses in the past two months.
On Feb. 26, Nanaimo RCMP issued a warning about an increase in counterfeit bills being circulated in the city, after receiving at least 17 separate reports of high-quality counterfeit $50 and $100 bank notes being used at various businesses.
