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Fake bills not as good as real ones

Police say a Clearwater man with counterfeit money bought automobile parts and tried to exchange them for real cash.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published September 14, 2005

LARGO - The scheme was simple enough, police said.

Buy $600 worth of car parts with counterfeit money, take them to another store and return the parts for real cash.

What could go wrong?

Kareem Miles, 23, of Clearwater started at Advance Auto Parts at 4260 East Bay Drive about 2 p.m. Monday, paying for the parts with $600 in a stack of $20 bills, said Largo police Detective James Monahan.

About 30 minutes later, he appeared at the Advance Auto Parts on U.S. 19 in Clearwater, Monahan said. He told the clerk he didn't need the parts anymore. He stressed that he had bought them with cash and wanted the same back, the detective said.

The store didn't have enough cash in its registers, and the cashier told Miles he would have to return to the Largo location.

He did.

This time, the store manager took a closer look at the stack of bills. The serial numbers were all the same. He called police, Monahan said.

Officers took Miles into custody. They also questioned two friends who were with him and an employee at the store, but they let them go without charges.

Investigators are still trying to track down whoever made the counterfeit bills, which were of high quality, Monahan said.

"His story was that he got this money when he was gambling or playing cards with friends," Monahan said of Miles. "That's a common alibi for counterfeit money."

Miles was charged with uttering forged instruments and dealing in stolen property. He was being held in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. Records show he has never been arrested in Pinellas County.

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 02:15:34]