KAILUA-KONA — On the final day of November, Hawaii County police released a warning to local merchants regarding an increase in circulation of counterfeit money on the island.
The release was prompted by a number of complaints regarding fake $100 bills being put into circulation. But it wasn’t just counterfeit $100s making the rounds in Kona.
Sergeant Roylen Valera of the Kona Community Policing Section said a handful of downtown businesses were hit through November and into mid-December with a variety of counterfeit denominations — from fake $10s to fake $100s.
At Subway restaurants in both the Safeway Shopping Center and the Kona Commons Center, fake $10 bills were used. Due to regular deposits, the stores were able to confirm the specific day the bills came through, but were not able to identify the culprits. It was ultimately the bank that discovered the false currency during the deposit process.
“The bills looked real to me. The (counterfeiters) did a good job, actually,” said Vivien Bonicelli, owner and operator of the Subway franchises in Kona for the last decade. “And who really looks for a $10 counterfeit? Why $10 when you’re committing a federal crime?”
Bonicelli said her employees are trained to spot counterfeit bills, but because the stores had never been hit with fake currency before and the denomination was unexpectedly small, several of the bills made it past Subway’s employees and into the cash register.
In its release, the police department said the false currency “looks, feels and even appears to be real after using the test pen.”
Because of that, Bonicelli said her bank advised her the only way to be certain a bill is legitimate is a thorough visual inspection.
“They showed us different pictures to look for when holding the bill up to the light and different diagrams you can always see when you do,” Bonicelli said.
Once identified, counterfeit bills are turned over to authorities and whatever entity accepted them records the fake payment as a loss. Bonicelli’s loss was not as significant as some others in the community, namely Robert Leopoldino, who owns McDonald’s franchises in Hawaii, including the restaurant located in Kona Commons.
“To date, we have received eight counterfeit bills for a total of $800,” Leopoldino said.
Beyond training employees to spot phony money, there is little else businesses can do to curtail its use except to adjust how they accept payment. Leopoldino has gone so far as to post signage at his drive-thru window that the company will no longer accept $100 bills.
Bonicelli said Subway has not adopted that policy at this point. Other businesses contacted who were not hit with the fake bills but are aware they are floating around Kona said they didn’t plan on implementing alternate payment policies.
While refusing to accept certain types of payment may occasionally prove inconvenient for consumers, there is no federal statute mandating that private entities accept any particular form of currency. Instead, they are free to institute their own payment policies unless expressly prohibited by state law, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website.
Librarians at the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau said they could find no state law on record requiring private businesses or individuals to accept payment in any specified manner.
Valera said for the last few weeks, the counterfeit scene has been quiet and he is not aware of any arrests. He was unable to provide more information as the case has become a federal investigation.
“Our role is as the initial call taker and report writer,” he explained. “We do the preliminary investigation and then we normally hand it over to the Secret Service.”
Troy Wilson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service Field Office in Honolulu, said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations, adding he could neither confirm or deny that an investigation was underway.
Bonicelli said she has not yet been contacted by a criminal investigator, local or federal.
It’s likely an investigation is underway, however, as counterfeit money dropping into circulation is not a problem isolated to Kona. There have also been reports of fake bills popping up in Hilo, as well as at a Jack in the Box on Kauai as recently as this past week.
In the HPD’s release from Nov. 30, the department outlined inspection methods to identify counterfeit bills. They are as follows:
• Locate and read the plastic embedded security thread. It should say “USA” and the bill’s denomination.
• Use an ultra-violet light to detect the thread glow color. The $5 dollar bill should glow blue, the $10 bill should glow orange, the $20 bill should glow green and the $50 bill should glow yellow. In older versions, the $100 bill should glow pink, while the current $100 bill has a 3-D ribbon.
• Hold the bill up to a light to check for a watermark.
• Tilt the bill to examine the color-shifting ink.
• With a magnifying glass, locate and examine the micro-printing.
Those who seek further information on counterfeit detection can access it at www.uscurrency.gov.
