CEDAR CITY, Utah (ABC4) — Two women were arrested by Cedar City Police earlier today, Aug. 30, after they allegedly used counterfeit $100 bills at a local truck stop.
Roberta Eng, 59, and Jasmine Ramirez, 31, allegedly used the bills shortly after 12:30 p.m., which were caught by a truck stop cashier, and then left the scene before police arrived. Cedar City Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow said Utah Highway Patrol officers later stopped Eng and Ramirez’s vehicle on Interstate 15.
Eng was booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility on 10 felony counts of possession of forged writing. Ramirez was booked on 10 felony counts of possession of forged writing, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of paraphernalia.
Ludlow said as the women were interviewed, they were also linked to other fraud-related crimes in Cedar City, but he did not elaborate on those additional allegations.
Ludlow said the truck stop cashier was able to respond to the situation because they were familiar with a similar instance that occurred earlier this month.
Cornell University has a number of tips to help people detect counterfeit money:
- Feel the texture of the bill. A lot of times, fake money can be detected by touch.
- Compare the bill with another of the same denomination and series
- Notice the relative flatness and lack of detail on the fake bills. Look carefully at the printing quality. Real U.S. tender has a number of printing tricks that the vast majority of counterfeiters cannot replicate.
- Look for colored fibers in the paper of the bills. Tiny red and blue fibers are embedded in all modern U.S. tender.
- Examine the serial numbers. Fake money often has mismatched serial numbers or printing techniques that are not evenly spaced or perfectly aligned in a row.
- Look for security features on all denominations, except for the $1 and $2 bills.
