News you can use
News you can use
A fake $100 bill that was passed at a Havre business is photographed. The circled portion shows where it is marked "For Motion Picture Use Only." Police are urging all people taking money in transactions to look closely at the bill.
A fake $100 bill with "Cinematic Use Only," circled in red, in three places is photographed by the Havre Police Department.
After more than a week from the first report of the kind, police are still receiving reports that businesses are being bamboozled by individuals paying with fake $100 bills.
A caller from a First Street business reported to Havre police Wednesday at 8:01 a.m. that they had received a fake $100 bill.
Lt. Aaron Wittmer of the Havre Police Department said this morning the fake $100 bill used at the auto parts store is the same motion picture money Havre police have received previous reports about.
The fake money was ordered online, Wittmer said. The individual ordered about $20,000 of it, "as a joke" before he gave it to others, which ignited the spread of the fake bills. About $13,000 of the play money has already been seized, Wittmer said.
Police are investigating and have no suspects, he added.
The fake money has been constrained to the Havre area, Wittmer said. Outside law enforcement have not received similar reports.
The suspects are using the fake money at businesses that generally have a higher concentration of customers and the cashiers are more likely to be too preoccupied to look the bills over - gas stations, pawn shops, grocery stores.
The bills say "For Motion Picture Use Only" on the front and "For Cinematic Use Only" on the back, three times.
Suspects could face charges of deceptive practices or theft of services, punishable by less than a year in a county jail if the amount is less than $1,500.
If it is $1,500 or more, it is a felony punishable by prison time.
Reader Comments(0)