WAREHAM — Police busted a counterfeit currency operation at a local trailer park Monday evening, seizing $1,500 in forged money after a two-month investigation into an influx of bogus bills passed at area businesses.
Wareham police, with assistance from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, executed a search warrant at 5 Beverly's Way in Garden Homes Trailer Park and found $1,500 in counterfeit $50, $20, $10 and $5 bills, along with an unidentified type of paper that allegedly was used to print them, authorities said. Police also seized a color scanner/printer, an eMachine modem and several empty ink cartridges, Wareham Police Sgt. John Walcek said.
Officers arrested Matthew Follis, 23, who lived in the trailer, charging him with possession of counterfeit notes and forgery of bank notes. Mr. Follis acknowledged he was part of the counterfeit operation, using the money to support his drug habit, Wareham Police Chief Thomas Joyce said.
Another man inside the trailer, William Donovan, 22, of 1150 East Falmouth Highway, Falmouth, was arrested on an outstanding warrant but does not face counterfeiting charges, police reported. A 17-year-old girl who was in the trailer was released without charges.
At this point, it does not appear that any other arrests will be made, Sgt. Walcek said.
Before the raid, Police Detective Bryan Berriault and other members of the Detective Division had been investigating complaints of counterfeit bills at town businesses for almost two months. They then applied for and received a warrant to search the Beverly's Way residence. U.S. Secret Service agent Brian Coffe assisted in the case.
"The bills were being disseminated at various local businesses," including fast-food restaurants and grocery stores, Sgt. Walcek said.
Although he did not know for sure, Sgt. Walcek said he believes all the printed bills had the same serial number on them, making them easily traceable to the same person. It is likely that investigators will search the seized computer to see if there is incriminating data on the hard drive, such as images of scanned bills, he added.
Police said Mr. Follis is being charged at the state level, which can carry some heavy penalties.
According to Sgt. Walcek, printing counterfeit bills or possessing 10 or more counterfeit bills can lead to "life or any term of years in a state prison."
"Clearly counterfeiting money is considered a serious crime," he said.
"Certainly we're thankful that a lot of the businesses in town were alert enough to catch on to this."
On Tuesday, some businesses near Mr. Follis' residence said they had heard rumors about the arrest but had not been formally warned by police about potential counterfeit bills being disseminated.
"We just try to be careful," said Jimmy Hoban, manager of Shooters Restaurant and Sports Bar on Route 28, right up the street from Garden Homes Trailer Park. He has not seen any counterfeit bills at his business lately, though he said it could get worse if a slow economy makes people desperate.
Chuck Quintal, owner of Crack O' Dawn restaurant on Route 28 said his business had received a fake $100 bill two months ago when someone wanted change to pay for a coffee. It was not until the bank called him that he learned the bill was counterfeit.
At the Cumberland Farms on nearby Depot Street, employee Crystal Brennan said workers are given basic training to detect counterfeit bills, including holding them up to the light to see watermarks and using a special marker on larger bills.
"If they turn dark brown, it's fake, and if it's a light yellow, it's real," Ms. Brennan explained.
Police said one officer was slightly injured during Monday's raid.
At around 5 p.m., several Wareham Police personnel and Deputy J. Nolan of the Plymouth County Sheriff's Dept. K-9 Division executed the search warrant, knocking on the door and announcing the warrant. When nobody answered, officers had to force entry, said Sgt. John Walcek, who was present at the raid. An officer, who was struck in the face with broken glass, was examined at Tobey Hospital and released, according to police.
A neighbor on the street who witnessed the raid said the trailer belongs to one of Mr. Follis' relatives. A woman in front of the home on Tuesday night said the trailer belongs to her mother, but she would not comment further.
Rob Buster, assistant special agent in charge of the Boston unit of the Secret Service, said he would not comment on an open investigation, but said businesses and individuals can protect themselves from receiving counterfeit money by learning to identify the properties of real bills, including watermarks and serial numbers. A "Know Your Money" feature on the Secret Service Web site, www.secretservice.gov, can help.
"It outlines by the different series and security features the denomination may have," he said.
Mr. Buster said printing counterfeit money can be a federal offense in some situations.
It "just depends on the offense," he said. "It's taken case by case."
Contact Jennifer Lade at jlade@s-t.com
Source: southcoasttoday.com
Wareham police, with assistance from the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, executed a search warrant at 5 Beverly's Way in Garden Homes Trailer Park and found $1,500 in counterfeit $50, $20, $10 and $5 bills, along with an unidentified type of paper that allegedly was used to print them, authorities said. Police also seized a color scanner/printer, an eMachine modem and several empty ink cartridges, Wareham Police Sgt. John Walcek said.
Officers arrested Matthew Follis, 23, who lived in the trailer, charging him with possession of counterfeit notes and forgery of bank notes. Mr. Follis acknowledged he was part of the counterfeit operation, using the money to support his drug habit, Wareham Police Chief Thomas Joyce said.
Another man inside the trailer, William Donovan, 22, of 1150 East Falmouth Highway, Falmouth, was arrested on an outstanding warrant but does not face counterfeiting charges, police reported. A 17-year-old girl who was in the trailer was released without charges.
At this point, it does not appear that any other arrests will be made, Sgt. Walcek said.
Before the raid, Police Detective Bryan Berriault and other members of the Detective Division had been investigating complaints of counterfeit bills at town businesses for almost two months. They then applied for and received a warrant to search the Beverly's Way residence. U.S. Secret Service agent Brian Coffe assisted in the case.
"The bills were being disseminated at various local businesses," including fast-food restaurants and grocery stores, Sgt. Walcek said.
Although he did not know for sure, Sgt. Walcek said he believes all the printed bills had the same serial number on them, making them easily traceable to the same person. It is likely that investigators will search the seized computer to see if there is incriminating data on the hard drive, such as images of scanned bills, he added.
Police said Mr. Follis is being charged at the state level, which can carry some heavy penalties.
According to Sgt. Walcek, printing counterfeit bills or possessing 10 or more counterfeit bills can lead to "life or any term of years in a state prison."
"Clearly counterfeiting money is considered a serious crime," he said.
"Certainly we're thankful that a lot of the businesses in town were alert enough to catch on to this."
On Tuesday, some businesses near Mr. Follis' residence said they had heard rumors about the arrest but had not been formally warned by police about potential counterfeit bills being disseminated.
"We just try to be careful," said Jimmy Hoban, manager of Shooters Restaurant and Sports Bar on Route 28, right up the street from Garden Homes Trailer Park. He has not seen any counterfeit bills at his business lately, though he said it could get worse if a slow economy makes people desperate.
Chuck Quintal, owner of Crack O' Dawn restaurant on Route 28 said his business had received a fake $100 bill two months ago when someone wanted change to pay for a coffee. It was not until the bank called him that he learned the bill was counterfeit.
At the Cumberland Farms on nearby Depot Street, employee Crystal Brennan said workers are given basic training to detect counterfeit bills, including holding them up to the light to see watermarks and using a special marker on larger bills.
"If they turn dark brown, it's fake, and if it's a light yellow, it's real," Ms. Brennan explained.
Police said one officer was slightly injured during Monday's raid.
At around 5 p.m., several Wareham Police personnel and Deputy J. Nolan of the Plymouth County Sheriff's Dept. K-9 Division executed the search warrant, knocking on the door and announcing the warrant. When nobody answered, officers had to force entry, said Sgt. John Walcek, who was present at the raid. An officer, who was struck in the face with broken glass, was examined at Tobey Hospital and released, according to police.
A neighbor on the street who witnessed the raid said the trailer belongs to one of Mr. Follis' relatives. A woman in front of the home on Tuesday night said the trailer belongs to her mother, but she would not comment further.
Rob Buster, assistant special agent in charge of the Boston unit of the Secret Service, said he would not comment on an open investigation, but said businesses and individuals can protect themselves from receiving counterfeit money by learning to identify the properties of real bills, including watermarks and serial numbers. A "Know Your Money" feature on the Secret Service Web site, www.secretservice.gov, can help.
"It outlines by the different series and security features the denomination may have," he said.
Mr. Buster said printing counterfeit money can be a federal offense in some situations.
It "just depends on the offense," he said. "It's taken case by case."
Contact Jennifer Lade at jlade@s-t.com
Source: southcoasttoday.com
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