3 Accused of Printing $20 Bills on Computer

Authorities have arrested a Simi Valley man and two Thousand Oaks men on suspicion of using a personal computer to print more than $1,000 in counterfeit $20 bills.

Brock Christner, 20, of Simi Valley and Jesse Johnson, 19, and Gary Shawgo, 20, both of Thousand Oaks, were arrested Tuesday after police raided a Moorpark company.

The three, who investigators believe were first-time counterfeiters, were booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of the manufacture and possession of counterfeit money.

Christner, an employee at the business, is suspected of using a personal computer to produce the bogus bills on heavy stock printer paper, unbeknownst to the company’s owner, said Det. Ron Nelson of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“If you look at them closely, you can tell they’re not righteous bills . . . but if you kind of pass over it, you could miss it,” Nelson said. “The printing quality was quite up to snuff. It’s just a little fuzzier than a normal bill. If you look at a bill up close, you can see the dot shading in the bill.”

Investigators from the U.S. Secret Service and Simi Valley Police Department and deputies in Moorpark and Thousand Oaks collected more than $1,000 in counterfeit money over the course of a monthlong investigation and during Tuesday’s arrests, authorities said.

On Thursday, Johnson remained in jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.

The case is the second this year in Ventura County involving someone allegedly using a personal computer to print counterfeit money.

Such crimes are increasing because of rapidly improving computer technology, Nelson said.