Anacortes police say merchants in the Anacortes area should be closely checking cash for evidence of false bills. Two false bills have been discovered over the weekend, both passed at stores on Commercial Ave.
In both cases the false bills were $5.00 dollar bills that were chemically washed and then reprinted as a $100 bill. These bills will pass inspection with a currency pen. Merchants should be checking bills by looking at the embedded security tape in the bill which will show the original denomination.
In one of the cases this weekend the suspect was described as a middle-aged, male subject who had ridden up on a bike. He remained in the business for a protracted period of time and then made an eight dollar purchase and paid with the false bill, which was not discovered until after he had left. In the other incident, there was no suspect information since the false bill was not noticed until closing time.