Tuesday, June 29, 2010
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A federal grand jury says five western Pennsylvania women printed thousands of dollars of counterfeit money last year and passed it on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and area businesses.
The agent in charge of the Secret Service office in Pittsburgh says the operation was one of “significant sophistication” because the women didn’t just make copies of money using a computer printer.
He says they also tried to mimic a security strip that’s embedded in real money, and ironed the bills to give them a texture similar to real money.
The alleged ring operated out of the Punxsutawney area, but prosecutors say the money was passed throughout western Pennsylvania. Prosecutors estimate the women printed as much as $25,000 from March to May 2009