Police bust Fargo-Moorhead counterfeit ring

WEST FARGO – Metro police have dismantled a significant counterfeiting operation and are expected to release details of the bust today, West Fargo Police Det. Sgt. Greg Warren said this morning.

Authorities confiscated scanners, printers and solution for washing bills while executing a search warrant in Moorhead, he said.

A man and woman have been arrested in connection with the operation, and a third person believed to be involved is in the Clay County Jail on a warrant.

The arrests come amid a rash of reports of fake bills being passed at metro area businesses. The Fargo Police Department alone has investigated more than a dozen cases of counterfeit bills passed at businesses since mid-May.

Authorities apparently broke the case open Sunday with the arrest of 21-year-old Robert Lee Flores of Moorhead, who allegedly used fake $20 bills to purchase Red River Valley Fair tickets at a Stop-N-Go in West Fargo. Authorities tracked Flores to the fair Sunday night and arrested him. On Monday morning, they searched the Pontiac Grand Am he allegedly drove to the fair and found more fake bills that appeared to be leftovers from a counterfeit printing operation.

Warren said thousands of dollars in counterfeit bills were confiscated with the equipment in Moorhead.

“It’s probably one of the better organized ones that we’ve seen in a while,” he said of the operation.

Tags: daily updates, crime news, regional news, west fargo, news, counterfeit, moorhead, fargo, money