Three teenagers from Beverly were caught with approximately $1,350 in fake money according to a police report after employees from Stop & Shop and Shaw’s reported being given bogus $50 bills. The employees realized the bills were fake after using a counterfeit pen.

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_054070514.html

BEVERLY — Three Beverly teenagers are being charged in a scheme to pass counterfeit $50 bills at two local supermarkets last week.

John Paul Kehoe, 19, of 15 Pine Road, Beverly, was arrested yesterday morning, and two 16-year-olds will be summoned to appear in court on charges of uttering and possession of counterfeit notes.

Police began investigating after employees at Shaw’s and Stop & Shop reported they had been given bogus $50 bills on Feb. 13. After looking at security camera footage, Detective Jeff Liacos recognized some of the teenagers.

“I knew three of the four people through my experience of three years as a school resource officer,” Liacos said.

Police learned that the two 16-year-olds had made small purchases at Shaw’s with the phony $50 bills and received $47.71 and $46.21 in change. After they left, store employees marked them with a special pen and determined they were fake.

The pen contains iodine-based ink that shows up yellow or clear on real money because it’s printed on cotton fiber that doesn’t react to iodine. In these two cases, the ink showed up brown, which meant the money was either very old or fake, Liacos said.

After questioning the boys, police identified Kehoe as the person who provided the bills and got a warrant. Investigators learned Kehoe and three other teenagers were riding around in Kehoe’s gold Lexus, when Kehoe pulled out a wad of $50 bills, approximately $1,350, according to a police report. He told the younger teens that his friend had printed them and that he had been asked to carry them around to “age” them.

Liacos said the counterfeit money was fairly well forged.

“They were worn, and they looked passable,” he said. “But to the trained eye, they looked like junk.”

Kehoe allegedly doled out some of the fake money to the other teens, who passed them at the supermarkets. Police are still investigating who gave Kehoe the money.

Similar counterfeit bills have turned up in the course of another ongoing investigation, according to a police report.

Beverly police also called in the United States Secret Service, the agency that investigates counterfeit currency. It’s not out of the ordinary to request their assistance, Liacos said.

Ken Jenkins, assistant special agent in charge, said counterfeit cases are not very common, but when they do occur “It’s mostly younger, high school kids, or young adults.

“They’ll go into a local establishment, and when they find they can do it, they’ll do it again,” he said. The Secret Service is investigating whether the counterfeit currency was used in the past.

Kehoe pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Salem District Court and was released on $300 cash bail. He’s due back in court on April 2.

Without the counterfeit pen the $1,350 of counterfeit bills that the teens had on them could still be circulating and there is no way to know who the next victim of counterfeit bills will be. So make sure you have a counterfeit detector if you’re in a business because it’s worth it to make 100% profit and for peace of mind.