Fuquay-Varina police 3rd in area with recent counterfeit-money crime

Days after Raleigh and Wake Forest police arrested men they said had counterfeit money, Fuquay-Varina police Tuesday posted a Facebook notice warning local businesses that there have been numerous reports of counterfeit $20, $50 and $100 bills turning up.

Monday, Raleigh police served a state prison inmate with charges that he had used five counterfeit $100s to buy an iPhone in November when he was on parole.

Saturday, Wake Forest police charged two men with having 86 bogus $20s and said one had bought items at a Walmart store and the other tried to pass currency at a Dollar General store.

“We are currently investigating several cases involving counterfeit bills being disseminated at local grocery stores, drug stores and big box stores,” the Facebook post said.

It urged business owners and managers to “be vigilant in verifying large denominations of currency at your business.”

Police posted a link to the U.S. Secret Service’s web page with tips for spotting bogus currency.

In the Raleigh case, Terryon Lamont McEachin, 27, was charged with one count of obtaining property by false pretense and one count of having five or more counterfeit bills. Police listed a Durham address in an arrest warrant for McEachin, but he was booked with a Fayetteville address.

Police had obtained the warrant for McEachin on Dec. 29. He was brought to Raleigh on Monday from a state prison where he was admitted Jan. 4 for violating parole. He had been convicted in Durham in March 2014 of felony restraint of a minor.

The charges against McEachin said he had given a woman five $100 bills to buy an iPhone 6+, but that they all had the same serial number and were counterfeit.

An agent with the U.S. Secret Service field office in Raleigh said the three cases did not appear to represent an influx of counterfeit money to the area.

The Triangle’s access to Interstates 40, 85 and 95 means that people with forged money sometimes stop in the area on their way to and from metropolitan areas in the Southeast and Northeast, the agent said.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Fuquay-Varina police 3rd in area with recent counterfeit-money crime."