Counterfeit $100 bills spotted by alert DMV workers

Keith Paul

Friday, April 7, 2000 | 10:27 a.m.

The long lines at DMV often resemble the long wait for rides at an amusement park, but that doesn't mean you can use funny money to pay.

Two new Nevada Department of Motor Vehicle workers in the Henderson office recently spotted two counterfeit $100 bills being used by customers trying to pay for their vehicle registration on two separate days.

"I saw it when he was counting his money and was wondering if he was going to give it to me," said George Murray, who was in his first week on the job after eight weeks of training. "It was real poor quality. It was a little smaller, really faded. It looked bad, like play money."

Lorraine Williams was still in training and only on her second day working a DMV window when she got a $100 bill that she said "just didn't feel right."

She looked at it and knew that the old-style $100 bill just wasn't real.

"It was a bad bill. It didn't feel right, and it didn't look right," Williams said.

Both bills were indeed counterfeit, leaving the two customers in shock.

"She said she was going back to the casino where her son got it as part of a slot (machine payout) and tell them," Williams said.

Murray said his customer was angry not only that the bill was counterfeit, but he also was out $100.

"He had to charge his (car) registration on a credit card," he said.

Neither customer is suspected of knowingly trying to pass counterfeit money, said Kevin Malone, DMV spokesman.

Nevada Division of Investigation detectives collected the bills and will forward them and other evidence to the Las Vegas office of the U.S. Secret Service, which will investigate the matter.