Milwaukee man charged with forging $100 bills
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Steve Chamraz reports Video by tmj4.com
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GRAFTON- Someone in our area has been passing fake $100 dollar bills.
It's a conversation no cashier wants to have -- turning away a customer with a bill that looks fake.
That happened to Rachel Konicek's co-worker back in April, when a $100 bill just didn't look right.
Grafton police soon picked up Thaddeus Hawkins. He has been charged in Ozaukee County with four counts of passing bad bills.
But a federal search warrant application says Hawkins was not deterred by this arrest. He bailed out -- and kept counterfeiting.
Just last week federal agents raided Hawkins' north side Milwaukee apartment.
Inside -- they uncovered the tools of an alleged counterfeiter, including: heavy duty oven cleaner to bleach the ink from $1 bills.
Plus an color inkjet printer to print images of $100 bills on the blanks.
That trick means cashiers have to be on guard, because counterfeit pens alone won't work.
"We have to hold it up to the light, look for the face and check it with a counterfeit pen," said cashier Rachel Konicek.
The feds believe Hawkins passed fake bills in Wauwatosa, Madison and Oshkosh. Some of the bogus bills may have been sent out of state.
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