Man Charged for Using Counterfeit Money in Craigslist Purchase

By Bill Brubaker (Contact)

Originally published at 11:14 a.m., June 19, 2008
Updated at 4:22 p.m., June 19, 2008

It's not like Benjamin Franklin or Independence Hall looked any different. But there was something about those hundred-dollar bills that just didn't seem right.

So yesterday, after receiving 23 of them for a Yamaha dirt bike he had been trying to sell on the Internet, the Purcellville man called the cops.

Last night, the Loudoun County sheriff's deputies arrested Faris Nassar, 25, of Leesburg, charging him with two counts of counterfeiting and one count of fraud by false pretense, authorities said.

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Authorities arrested Faris Nassar Wednesday for attempting to purchase a motorcycle off of Craigslist with 23 counterfeited $100 bills. (Loudoun County Sheriff's Office)

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A seller on Craigslist alerted police to the counterfeited bills after he received them, saying they felt too thick to be regular currency. The buyer was arrested and charged with two counts of counterfeiting and one count of fraud. (Loudoun County Sheriff's Office)

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Nassar made the $2,300 all-cash purchase after spotting the dirt bike on craigslist.org, an online marketplace, sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell said.

"But, later, the victim looked at the money and it didn't feel right," Troxell said. "The bills looked good but didn't feel right. The quality of the paper didn't match up with how a real bill feels. The bills were too thick."

Deputies conducted a search warrant last night at a home in the 43500 block of Emerald Dunes Place in the River Creek community of Leesburg, Troxell said. They seized United States currency, computers, printers and the dirt bike.

Nassar was taken into custody without incident, Troxell said. He is being held in the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond. Authorities are withholding the name of the victim.

Tagged: crime, police

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