Counterfeit money has shown up in Seward.
A person found two counterfeit bills in a public restroom and turned it in to a local business on May 30, according to Seward Police Department Deputy Chief of Police Karl Schaefermeyer. He said the bills were prop money used in movie productions.
“They were both of those ‘for movie use only’ style of 50 dollar bills clearly marked for movie use only and had a different texture than a normal 50 dollar bill would have,” he said.
Schaefermeyer said prop money usually states it is for movie use only, and may have a different person on the bill. He says fake 50 and 100 dollar bills are more commonly used, and recommends businesses to check if bills are counterfeits.
“Do any of the counterfeit checks, those counterfeit pens and things like that," he said, "if you do find one, don't try to detain the person. Make sure you stay safe yourself, but if you have any surveillance video, any photograph, they can report to us as well.”
Schaefermeyer said there are usually one or two reported cases of counterfeit bills each year, but there don’t seem to be any counterfeit rings on the Kenai Peninsula. There were numerous cases of counterfeit bills being reported in 2018. Anyone who finds counterfeit bills can contact their local law enforcement agency.
