Counterfeiting Probe Focuses on Middle School Students

As many as 10 teenagers in the Antelope Valley are under investigation over counterfeit money allegedly made with their home computers and used to buy food in their middle school cafeteria, authorities said.

The bills, mostly of low denominations, appeared real enough to fool lunch room employees at the Joe Walker Middle School in Quartz Hill. They were discovered only when a cashier was counting the money late last week.

“There were kids trying to pass some fake money around,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. John Perez, who works in the nearby Lancaster sheriff’s station. “According to standard procedure, we called the Secret Service,” he said.

Neither Perez nor school district officials would comment on how much money was passed, and they declined to identify the students because they are minors and no charges have been filed.

Brian Nagel, assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Southern California bureau, said the agency never comments on cases involving minor suspects. The Secret Service is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating counterfeiting.

Nagel said counterfeiting has risen sharply in recent years as more and more technologically savvy people use their home computers, scanners and color printers to make money. Usually, however, it is far inferior to phony bills made with offset printers.

Nancy Hemstreet, director of food services for the Westside Union School District, said a suspect $5 bill was brought to her attention by a student cashier in the school cafeteria.

“It wasn’t a bad looking bill,” Hemstreet said. “But it felt a little slick, and it didn’t look right when you looked at it carefully.”

Hemstreet eventually found two $10 bills and two $1 bills, as well, and took the matter to school administrators. Hemstreet said the administration had heard rumors that a student had been involved in counterfeiting and began investigating before calling in authorities.

“Obviously, we’re very surprised,” Hemstreet said. “It’s not something you’d ever expect would happen, especially here. I think of this as a small town, and things like that just don’t happen here.”