Man Accused Of Using Counterfeit $100 Bills

A man is facing federal counterfeiting charges and local forgery charges after investigators say he used counterfeit $100 bills.

Belle Isle police say 29-year-old Elieser Vazquez-Ortiz tried to pass off the counterfeit bill to buy batteries at CVS pharmacy on Conway Road Wednesday. However, employees recognized him as the man who may have used counterfeit money before.

Investigators say the serial number on the bill has been copied on 23 other $100 bills.

“He says he's a barber and that was given to him by a customer,” Belle Isle Police Chief John Tegg said.

Angela Barnes says Vasquez-Ortiz told her the same story when he bought a $20 game with a $100 bill at her game store next to CVS. Barnes used the bill at Winn Dixie and police traced it back to her.

“I had no idea, because I checked it with the pen to show it was real,” Barnes said.

The problem is the bills are real, so the counterfeit pens don't turn brown or gray like they're supposed to. Police say the counterfeiters replace the denomination on the bills and copy serial numbers from real bills. So the bill itself is real, the denomination is not.

“It’s a lot of taking out of everybody else's pocket, a lot of it. It’s not fair,” CVS customer Denise Guerrero said.

The Secret Service confiscates $30,000 worth of counterfeit cash a week in Central Florida.

Belle Isle police charged Vasquez-Ortiz with forgery. He only had to pay $100 of his $1,000 bond to walk out of jail and return to his upscale home in a gated Lake Nona community.

It is illegal, to knowingly possess a counterfeit bill. Police say it’s hard to know you have one most times until it’s too late.

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