Couple Claims Wachovia Bank Gave Them Counterfeit Bills

A Florida couple has contacted the U.S. Secret Service after they received ten $100 counterfeit bills from a Wachovia Bank in Central Florida.

Wachovia Bank is currently on the news for facing a severe financial crunch because of the home mortgage crisis. I hope that hasn’t led to this distributing fake currencies to its customers. Ulises Garcia, a Florida native planning to marry his fiancé Joann Rodriguez, withdrew $3,600 from the Wachovia Branch few weeks ago. He needed the money to arrange for his upcoming marriage. Garcia later deposited the funds to Bank of America, but the teller noticed that ten of the 36 $100 bills were counterfeit, according to Local 6’s Tony Pipitone. You can see the pictures of the counterfeit money at this link. When they contacted Wachovia about the counterfeit bills, the bank refused to give them the money. Joann Rodriguez told Pipitone: "It is really frustrating for us…The bank is not doing anything about it. (It's) just not giving us any solutions at all." Rodriguez added that they had big plans to get married in about two to three months and this problem is causing delays and frustration. Wachovia representative said they cannot confirm that it is their money, so unless it is proved somehow they can refund the money. A similar case occurred few weeks later, according to Local 6, a man was refunded $40 by Wachovia for the counterfeit bills they gave him. Garcia and Rodriguez were left with no choice but to file a police report and they contacted the U.S. Secret Service and the TV station. U.S. Secret Service representative Jim Glendinning, who is investigating this case, told Local 6.

Ten (bills) in one transaction to come from one bank, that is definitely unusual.

Glendinning said banks usually have the means to detect counterfeits but it is a surprise that Wachovia Bank let these fake bills slip by their radar. He said likely there might be a bank employee involved in this scheme. Here is a good website which shows how to detect counterfeit money.