ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va.- – Stores in one local community are on the lookout for fake money.
The Rockbridge County Sheriff's Office says Robert Earl Hibbler, Patrick T. Bishop III, Lemetruis Cortz Gross, Amari Pierre Travis and Marshaune Maurice Williams are suspected of passing counterfeit money, mainly $100 bills, at stores like Walmart, Hardees and Ollies.
It was a worker at the Dollar Tree in Lexington who first tipped them off.
"They are some good counterfeit bills. She said she wasn't comfortable taking it. It was returned to the suspect," said Deputy Ryan McCullough.
Deputies say the fake money can be hard to pinpoint because the bills are printed on paper that passes the counterfeit marker test, but the bills appear to all have the same serial number of G-18518395-A.
Investigators believe surveillance video shows three men going inside stores while the others are drivers and lookouts.
"They are branching out in different parking lots and different businesses. They are purchasing small items so they can get the change back in real currency," said McCullough.
The suspects, who are from Chicago, were arrested Friday and face conspiracy charges. The Sheriff's Office expects to collect more of the counterfeit money in the coming days. The Secret Service is also involved in the investigation.