Bleached counterfeit bills make their way to ER
East Rutherford
Deputy Chief Edward Bury recently reported confiscating counterfeit bills that
have been circulating around the borough, specifically bleached-out $5 bills
that have been reprinted as $100 bills.
This technique of
counterfeiting is more high-tech than printing the money at home on an ink jet
printer, according to U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Cindy
Wofford. Because of the sophistication of the bills, the bleaching method
usually means a more organized group is involved.
“Anytime they are
bleaching fives and counterfeiting on top, it creates a better quality because
the paper is real,” Wofford said. “It allows counterfeit pens to react like an
actual bill due to the paper. … It appears real to the retailer and is a little
easier to pass.”
The East Rutherford
Police Department usually receives four or five counterfeit bills a month,
mainly from BJ’s Wholesale Store at 300 Route 17 North, officials said.
“There seems to be
a lot more of the bleached-out $5 bills in the area,” Bury said.
Police reported
recovering five counterfeit bleached-out bills Friday, Jan. 15 at BJ’s and
another bill at Salad Works at 30 Route 17 North on Dec. 15.
Once recovered, the
bills are sent to the U.S. Secret Service where they are analyzed in an attempt
to link them to the creator.
“There is no
extraordinary amount of (counterfeit bills) in circulation,” said Wofford.
“Bleached fives are being passed up and down the East Coast right now, but no
more now than there were six months ago.”
The U.S. Secret
Service receives approximately $30,000 a week in counterfeit notes from the
North Jersey region.
“It is hardly
anything compared to the money in circulation,” Wofford said. “It’s about 1/100
of a percent of what is in circulation.”
The U.S. Department
of Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which deals specially with paper
money, reports that as of Nov. 30, 2009, there is approximately $1.80 trillion
in U.S. currency in circulation.
Claudia Dickens,
manager of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Treasury Bureau of
Engraving and Printing, reported that approximately $27 million notes are
printed per day.
With so much money
circulating and the upgrades in technology — ink jet printers, color copiers
and scanners — the bureau maintains the security of the nation’s currency by
enhancing the designs every seven to 10 years.
A new series of
currency was introduced Oct. 9, 2003, with the $20 note — followed by the $50
note in 2004, the $10 note in 2006 and the $5 note in 2008.
The $100 note is
also slated to be redesigned, but a timetable for its introduction is not yet
set, according the bureau’s Web site.
“We redesign the
bills for anti-counterfeiting purposes more so than for aesthetically pleasing
purposes,” Dickens said. “We simply redesign to make money safer.”
Source: leadernewspapers.net