Man May be Passing Fake $100 Bills in Monmouth County

Monmouth County, NJ - At least two incidents of a man trying to pass fake $100 bills have been reported in Monmouth County, but authorities have not commented yet whether they think it’s the same individual.

The most recent incident was Thursday, Feb. 4 when employees at the Manalapan Wegmans said a man asked for change for a counterfeit $100.

At approximately 1:48 p.m. that day, an unidentified black male entered the Wegmans store. He proceeded to purchase $12.99 worth of merchandise with a $100 bill and received $87.01 in cash back, employees told police. He left the store with the change.

A day later store employees realized their error and called Manalapan police. The $100 bill was identified as a bleached $5.00 bill. When holding the bill up to the light, a hologram of Abraham Lincoln’s face could be seen, as well as a barcode with the word “five.”

The man was wearing a dark-colored hat, a blue button-up shirt, khaki pants, and tan work boots, police said. Surrounding departments were notified of the incident.

Another incident in Aberdeen

Earlier, on January 29, a man tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at the Shop Rite on Lloyd Road in Aberdeen township, police there said.

Again, the suspect was described as a black male with a stocky build, 20 to 30 years of age, 5’5” tall, wearing a NY Mets winter hat resembling a baseball cap, and a gray and blue jacket with a gray hoodie. He may have gotten into a dark blue or black Toyota Camry with NJ plates, police said.

Police have not said if the two incidents are related, but are warning businesses to be on the lookout for counterfeit $100 bills.

Stock image/Morguefile