By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — The paper felt a little flimsy and the printing on the bills was a little blurry, but someone was successful in passing off counterfeit money at a Geneva convenience store over the weekend, Geneva police reports show.
Counterfeit paper money in several denominations was collected at the Circle K convenience store on Route 20, police reports show, though a clerk refused to accept $12 in suspicious bills on Sunday.
The store manager noticed a suspicious $1 bill in the cash drawer Saturday and called police. She noted the paper “didn’t feel right and the printed images looked blurry,” police reports show.
By Sunday, the clerks at the store were aware of the counterfeit money and a clerk refused $12 in cash — two $1 bills and a $10 bill — for a $11.71 merchandise sale, police reports show.
“The clerk used a marking pen to check the money and found that all the bills were counterfeit and refused to accept the money,” the police report reads.
Later that same day, a man attempted to pay a clerk at the same store with a counterfeit $20 bill, police reports show.
“There is no definitive source as to the origin of the bill, however (the clerk) believes she has the source narrowed down to two transactions in the early morning hours,” Police Chief Dan Dudik said.
“The bills came in all denominations,” Dudik said, “and were used to make fast transactions — small purchases with smaller bills at places where a lot of money changes hands quickly.”
Dudik said officers are reviewing video footage from the times of all three suspicious transactions.
“They are working to find a commonality — the same car in the parking lot, the same people in the checkout line, people wearing the same clothing,” he said.
But finding the source of counterfeit money is no easy job, Dudik said.
“One counterfeit bill found recently was received from a local automated teller machine (ATM) at a bank,” he said. “The person received it through general circulation.”
Dudik said there is no telling how much counterfeit money is in circulation, or where it comes from.
“There are literally hundreds of fingerprints on every single bill, so it is almost impossible to narrow it down to the person who had the fake money first,” he said. “Once the fake bills get into circulation, anyone can have it and pass it on. Unfortunately, there is a lot of (counterfeit money) out there.”
