FRANKLIN, Ind. — An 18-year-old Indiana woman is accused of using counterfeit money treated with laundry starch to fool detection markers, WXIN reported.
Honesty Shyray Beecher, of Indianapolis, is charged with counterfeiting, theft and receiving stolen property, the television station reported.
According to Franklin police, a supermarket employee reported Saturday that a woman had just used a counterfeit $100 and was leaving in a black Chrysler Sebring, WXIN reported.
An officer stopped Beecher, who initially denied knowing that her cash was counterfeit, the television station reported. However, police said she later admitted to buying the bogus bills for $10 apiece from a man who was selling them near her apartment, WXIN reported.
Police found cat litter and cat food from PetSmart, Doritos and Starbucks and Ruby Tuesday's gift cards from Kroger, and a money jar, toys and diapers from Big Lots, the Daily Journal of Franklin reported. All were bought with the counterfeit money, police told the newspaper.
Police collected nine fake $100 bills, WXIN reported. Two of them were found stuck into the back seat of a Franklin police patrol car after Beecher was taken to the Johnson County jail.
An evidence technician said the bills were sprayed with laundry starch, according to WXIN.
“The starch interacts with the paper and the marker and makes it react in a positive test,” Franklin police Lt. Scott Summers told the television station.
Aside from the goods that were purchased with the fake bills, Beecher also received $279.21 in change, the Daily Journal reported.
"She would use a fake bill, buy something small and get large amounts of change to where she had real currency at that time," Summers told WXIN. "It is something that we've dealt with for some time, but not on this level. And that is concerning that she was able to get by with so much before she was actually caught."
Beecher was released on $2,200 bond, the Daily Journal reported.
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