NAVASOTA POLICE INVESTIGATING USE OF COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY AT LOCAL BUSINESSES

  

The Navasota Police Department is asking residents and businesses to be on the lookout as it investigates multiple instances of counterfeit currency being used.

Police say they responded on Friday and Saturday to reports of counterfeit $100 bills having been spent at businesses in the 100 and 200 blocks of East Washington Avenue in the Central Business District. 

Officers recovered counterfeit bills from four separate establishments, saying in each incident, a male suspect entered the business and used a fake $100 bill to purchase a single item.

The recovered currency will be submitted for further examination with the assistance of the United States Secret Service.

Police say as counterfeiting techniques become more advanced, it is important to be familiar with the security features in real bills.  Those include the 3D security ribbon woven into new $100 bills that display the correct denomination when held up to light. 

Police say if a $10 bill has been bleached and reprinted with $100 markings, the ribbon will still display $10, which will indicate tampering.  Additionally, counterfeit detection pens may give false positives if a real bill has been altered.

Anyone who has information on these incidents can reach out to the Navasota Police Department at 936-825-6410.