A 22 year old man from Nebraska is facing counterfeiting charges after his little brother brought a fake 50 dollar bill to school. His 16 year old brother was arrested at Bryan High School and more counterfeit money was discovered on him when he was being questioned.
“The government spends a lot of money developing security features. And the paper that they use is proprietary. So you’re never going to be able to find paper that feels exactly like it. And usually that’s the dead give away is the feel on it,” Sgt. Tim Melvin said.
After speaking with the student, investigators served a search warrant at the student’s house. What they found was thousands of dollars in counterfeit money as well as equipment for the manufacture of that fake money.
22-year-old Emmanuel Machiek, the 16 year old’s older brother, was arrested for first-degree forgery, possession of a forged instrument, and possession of forgery devices. He also faces federal counterfeit charges.
Inside the house police found more than eight thousand dollars in counterfeit bills as well as a computer printer scanner. A loaded handgun and shotgun were also recovered.
“It was someone who obviously had taken a lot of time and was getting pretty good at doing this, and had produced a lot of money that was circulated,” Melvin said.
So far investigators don’t believe the 16 year old was involved in the actual manufacturing of the fake bills.