Sept. 04--DINWIDDIE -- The Sheriff's Office has called in Secret Service investigators to help probe a suspected counterfeit ring.
Two Brooklyn, N.Y., men are in custody at Meherrin River Regional Jail on charges of forging bank notes in connection with the case, which began with a routine traffic stop.
A deputy who pulled over 21-year-old Mamadou Bobo Bah and Shuron Allen Reed, 19, on suspicion of speeding thought he smelled something funny when he approached the vehicle, said Maj. William Knott with the Dinwiddie Sheriff's Office.
"He thought he detected marijuana so he brought out his dog and the dog alerted," Knott said. With K-9 officer Bruno's confirmation and Reed and Bah's permission, the deputy proceeded to search the vehicle. What he found in the trunk led the Sheriff's Office to call in federal backup.
The storage compartment was stacked with more than $15,000-worth of money orders in various denominations, piles of blank checks, a laptop, printer and a blank check from an insurance company, Knott said.
"When we see those kinds of things ... the first thing we're thinking is they're counterfeiting," Knott said. "We believe they have been printing checks and cashing them in one area and then purchasing money orders in another."
Investigators think the men's alleged criminal activity has taken them on routine trips from their homes in New York to Atlanta. Each of them laid claim to some of the cash and money orders found in the vehicle, Knott said. The money orders were tested and found to be legitimate.
The Secret Service is largely associated with safeguarding the president, but the agency's original mission when it was founded in 1865 was to investigate the counterfeiting of American currency. That mandate has been reaffirmed and broadened over the years to include forms of money laundering and additional fraudulent activities, according to the branch's investigative mission statement online.
The agency will extend federal resources to an investigation that may result in federal charges, Knott said. The Dinwiddie Sheriff's Office seized the vehicle and all of its contents.
Bah and Reed each face a class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine.
They were arraigned on Aug. 27 and will appear again in Dinwiddie General District Court on Oct. 1. Reed faces an additional charge for allegedly driving 76 mph in a 60 mph zone.
- K. Burnell Evans may be reached at 804-722-5155 or [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va.
