Lake City police warning businesses of 'prop money' being passed

Bills are used in motion picture productions

LAKE CITY, Fla. – Lake City police are warning businesses about fake bills being passed in the area.

In January, police said they conducted an investigation after Calvin Jones used "motion picture money" at the Save-A-Lot in Lake City. Employees at the store detected the counterfeit after using a special marker on the bill. Jones left the store and is wanted for passing counterfeit currency.

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Since that incident, another woman asked for change using the same style of prop money. The store refused and she left but did not leave her bill behind, according to police.

Another attempt to pass such bills was detected on Jan. 31, police said. De'Aundre Jones, 18, made a purchase at a Lake City convenience store using the same style of prop money. The cashier did not detect the fake and made the sale, then gave Jones change. After Jones left the store, the employee detected the counterfeit and contacted the Lake City Police Department, police said.

Individuals with information regarding Jones' whereabouts are asked to contact Investigator 
Kevin Johns at 386-758-5471.

“We strongly encourage businesses to train their employees to review bills, especially larger ones, (before) accepting them,” said Chief Argatha Gilmore. “Motion Picture Money looks almost identical to real money, but should be clearly marked as a prop. It will also have a distinctly different texture and feel.”

Other features of this prop money include the “security ribbon” being printed on the outside of the bill, not embedded inside like real currency, and the lack of watermarks if held up to the light.