4 charged in group that turned $5 bills into $50, police say | Crime

ROCK HILL, SC (WBTV) - Four people have been charged in a counterfeiting operation that was  bleaching out $5 bills and making them into $50 bills, Rock Hill Police said Monday.

The group, based out of Black Mountain, NC, managed to pass $50,000 in fake bills in various states, police said. At least one Rock Hill store was fooled by the bills that were created by a multi-state operation, police said.

The 2 ring-leaders of the five-state operation  were from Utah and tried to pass or did pass at least 1000 $50 dollar bills in Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, Rock Hill Police told WBTV Monday.

Amber Delu, Tamera Cox, Tommy Cox and Roy Hill were indicted in a Secret Service investigation, police said. The group was nabbed  in Henderson County with a pair being held in the Buncome County jail and two in the Davie County jail, police said.

The incident first surfaced in our region in early March when Rock Hill police wanted to talk to a woman who they say had one of the bills at two different stores. 

A Rock Hill CVS had one fake bill passed and the dubious bill was only caught when the bank found it well after the "passer" had moved on, police said. 

Apparently, the forging was fooling clerks because the bill paper includes security features that are staying in tact, police say.

The bleaching keeps the magnetic strip and the feel of the paper – along with some water markings, police say. The crooks then just reprint – using a good printer – the $50 over the bleached paper. 

The first incident happened on March 1 at an Earth Fare on Cherry Road when someone tried to pass a fake bill – but police were not called until the next day, police said. In that incident, the clerk caught it and the woman took it back – claiming she got the money from Walgreens in change. 

An incident happened on March 2 when another bill was caught – and kept – at Bi-Lo on Cherry Road. In that case the woman left the store, leaving the bill behind. 

The clerk "caught" the bill by noticing the watermark was for a $5 bill. 

Copyright 2011 WBTV. All rights reserved.