THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411020449
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
James Ramsey was distracted by the water flooding the floor around him at Taco Tina's, but he still noticed something odd about the $20 bill a customer had just given him: It had George Washington's picture on it, not Andrew Jackson's.
He smiled reassuringly at the customer, then leaned over to whisper to a repairman working under the counter on the spewing water filter. ``Call mall security on your radio,'' Ramsey said. ``I've got a counterfeit bill here.''
Ramsey told the customer he needed to go to another store to get change at Chesapeake Square Mall. The customer nervously told Ramsey he'd be right back - he needed to use the food-court restroom. But Ramsey followed and pointed him out to security officers.
Tuesday, Mark Anthony Bowes, 31, was arrested on federal charges by Secret Service agents who say he may have passed as many as 45 altered bills since August, mainly at busy convenience stores and gas stations in Chesapeake.
In an era when many counterfeiters are using state-of-the-art color copiers, authorities say Bowes resorted to scissors and Scotch tape to turn $1 bills into $20s.
The fake $20 bills were made by cutting the ends off 20s and taping them onto the ends of $1 bills, amounting to a $19 profit for each bogus bill.
The scam was completed, authorities said, when the mutilated 20s were taken to drive-in banks, where they were exchanged for good bills.
Many of the bills were passed at busy stores where clerks didn't notice the alterations. But Ramsey, the clerk at Taco Tina's, wasn't fooled when a fake $20 came across the counter last Friday.
``It was pretty amazing. I just barely caught it,'' said Ramsey, 18. ``It just hit me as I was sliding it into the drawer. I pulled it right back out. I was thinking, `That can't be right. George Washington's not on a 20.' ''
Ramsey said he believed the suspect was trying to take advantage of confusion at the store to pass the bill, saying he needed change to use the phone.
The Secret Service has been looking for Bowes since the bills began surfacing in August, said Lawrence V. Kumjian, resident agent in charge. Several wary clerks in other stores had noted the fake bills and gotten a license plate number, which was used to track Bowes to a Chesapeake trailer court.
Several days before agents went to the trailer court, Bowes had been evicted. Agents notified area police, who have been on the lookout.
Among the businesses hit by the bogus bills were Wal-Mart, Food Lion, 7-Eleven, Texaco, Revco and Amoco. Federal authorities said they believe about $900 was passed.
Tuesday's arrest marks the 16th arrest in counterfeiting cases so far this year in Hampton Roads. Nearly $51,000 in counterfeit bills has been passed since January, and about $20,800 has been seized by federal authorities.
Bowes was charged with one count of altering U.S. currency and one count of uttering, or passing, currency. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and a maximum fine of $5,000.
Bowes, formerly of the Woodside Trailer Park in Chesapeake, was released pending trial on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Police say the suspect doctored this $1 bill.
KEYWORDS: COUNTERFEIT MONEY ARREST by CNB