ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, January 1, 1996                TAG: 9601020098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: HOLIDAY 
DATELINE: EMPORIA
SOURCE: Associated Press 

COUNTERFEIT BILLS FOUND IN EMPORIA PHONY $50S AND $20S ARE BEING PASSED

First, it was bogus $20s. Now, phony $50s are changing hands in this small Southside city.

Police say they rarely encounter more than one or two bogus bills a year, but since October more than 20 have been found in Emporia stores and restaurants.

The last three, passed at a convenience store on Christmas Day, were counterfeit $50 bills.

``I guess they thought they were getting away with the $20s, so they decided to try a little bit more,'' police investigator Lee Lofland said.

The bills are thicker and smoother than legal tender and often feel like copy machine paper. The backs of the $50s are faded or dark.

The counterfeiters usually make small purchases, say police, who believe they use the change to buy drugs.

Investigators say they are following promising leads. Lofland said police believe two or more groups of counterfeiters have passed the bills.

The three $50 bills were passed on three occasions on Christmas Day at a Red Barn convenience store just outside the city.

Another bogus $50 bill was nearly passed at a 7-Eleven on Christmas Eve, but a clerk was suspicious and the suspect left with the bill.

Officers have warned merchants about the bogus bills and are working with the chamber of commerce to arrange a class on recognizing phony money.

A.C. Patel, owner of the Red Barn, said he believes that a class on spotting bogus bills is a good idea. He wants to buy markers that can help merchants distinguish real from phony money. The ink from the markers shows up differently on real currency than on counterfeit.

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