FORT FRANCES – The Rainy River District Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has been investigating the circulation of counterfeit fifty dollar bills in the Fort Frances area since early January 2020.
As a result of the investigation conducted that involved the Rainy River District crime unit and the Northwest Region Forensic Identification Services (NWR FIS) a suspect was identified and charges have been laid.
Jason Alexa (47) of Fort Frances has been charged criminally with:
- 1 count of adult possessing counterfeit money.
Jason Alexa will appear in Fort Frances Provincial court on June 8, 2020, at 9:30 am.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Robert Nicholl (30) of Fort Frances has also been charged criminally with:
- One count of Fraud under $5000 and;
- One count of Uttering counterfeit money.
The accused has appeared in court and the case is ongoing. None of the charges have been proven in court.
As a reminder to businesses and members of the public:
The following indicators have been observed on the counterfeit money that has been circulated to date:
The bills are thick paper, not polymer;
The translucent plastic on these bills is actually just tape;
There are hash marks on the top right corner of the face side of the bill, or the corner maybe just cut off;
In all examples, the maple leaf on the left side is not translucent and is not a hologram.
For information on detecting counterfeit currency, check out:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/counterfeit-money-and-how-to-detect-it/vi-AADKhqS
For security features on the current fifty dollar bills, check out the bank of Canada website at:
https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/bank-note-series/frontiers/
