Bleached $1 Bills Part of Counterfeit Operation Uncovered at Local Motel
La Grange Police arrested a San Marcos woman for forgery and drug charges after uncovering a counterfeit money printing operation at the Carter Motel.
The arrest came on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Police Chief David Gilbreath said Texas One Stop in La Grange reported receiving a fake $100 bill and $50 bill on Sunday, Nov. 7. Police reviewed video surveillance from the store and saw two suspects passing the bills, a white male and a white female. Surveillance footage showed them leaving in a white van and captured the van’s license plate number.
On Tuesday, the suspects tried passing another fake bill at Texas One Stop. Gilbreath said the ink was still wet on the coun-terfeit bill, and the store refused to take it and notified police. Patrolman David Mohr located the white van later that morning at the Carter Motel.
Gilbreath said a Fayette County Narcotics Officer located the room where the suspects were staying. Police obtained a warrant and searched the room. They found printers, paper, counterfeit currency and various amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
Officers arrested 39-year old Jessica Lee Hanselman of San Marcos for forgery and possession of a controlled substance. Gilbreath said two other men were staying in the room, ages 61 and 42. He said additional charges are pending against all three for organized criminal activity.
The suspects initially scanned and printed the fake bills on regular paper, Gilbreath said. They apparently found little success with that method. He said they then bleached real $1 bills and printed $50s and $100s on the bleached bills. The suspects wore different wigs to disguise their identities when passing the bills, Gilbreath said.
Gilbreath said those bills looked and felt like real money. He said the bills even pass counterfeit detector marker tests. The bills lacked security watermarks and color-shifting ink, however.
Texas One Stop has been the only local merchant to report counterfeit money recently. However, Gilbreath said he believes more bills are circulating locally. He said Fayette Savings Bank located a few counterfeit bills in recent deposits.
Gilbreath said Texas One Stop’s surveillance video system was instrumental in catching the suspects. He said the store purchased the system with assistance from the City of La Grange Security Camera Grant Program. He encouraged other businesses to utilize the grant program. He also encouraged merchants to train their employees to recognize watermarks and other security features printed on authentic paper money.