A stop at a Point Pleasant dollar store on Thursday ended with an Ohio man in handcuffs and deputies pulling what they describe as a large stash of suspected fake money, and the equipment to print it, out of his vehicle.
According to the Mason County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called Thursday, November 12, to the Dollar General in Point Pleasant after a report that someone may have tried to pass counterfeit currency there.
A Tip From Across the River
Store workers told deputies they had already heard about a similar incident earlier the same day at another Dollar General, this one in Tupper Plains, Ohio, a short drive across the Ohio River.
Chief Deputy C. Zerkle and Capt. C.A. Varian then pulled over the suspect's vehicle. When they searched it, the sheriff's office says, they found a large quantity of suspected counterfeit bills along with printing equipment.
The Charge
Muridi Muktar Hussein, of Columbus, Ohio, was arrested and charged with possession of counterfeit currency with intent to utter, meaning intent to pass it off as real money.
The sheriff's office has not said how much suspected counterfeit money was recovered. Hussein is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
How to Protect Your Business
Mason County deputies have warned local businesses before that counterfeit-detection markers can miss some fake bills, including real low-value notes altered to look like larger ones. Holding a bill up to the light to check for the watermark and security strip is a better test. Store owners and cashiers who suspect a fake bill should keep it, avoid confronting the person, and call law enforcement.
Hats off to the Point Pleasant store employees who spoke up, and to the deputies who acted fast. Small-town cashiers looking out for each other across state lines may have kept a lot of fake money out of local tills.