Man arrested, phony cash seized Massachusetts resident accused of making counterfeit money

BANGOR – A Massachusetts man faces at least four counts of aggravated forgery after police broke up a small counterfeit money operation they said he was running out of a home he was staying in.

Robert Pike, 32, of New Bedford, Mass., was arrested Tuesday after he passed phony money at a Main Street convenience store, police reported. One day later, on Wednesday, police searched a Griffin Road home where Pike was staying and seized the papermaking equipment and pages of $50 bills in preparation, reported Detective Lt. Tim Reid, who heads the criminal investigation division of the Bangor Police Department.

Reid estimated that more than $3,000 in counterfeit money was seized at the residence and that more was found cut up in the trash, thrown out as failed attempts. Police also seized a color photocopier and a paper cutter as well as some heroin. Reid said Pike photocopied each side of the bills and then pasted the sides together.

“He had set up quite a little operation,” Reid said.

Pike had been in the Bangor area for about a month, police said, and had been passing the fake $10 and $20 bills, although Reid said it didn’t appear he had been passing the $50 bills yet. At least a half-dozen stores have reported taking the counterfeit bills, although Reid said more cases could come to light.

Pike was caught after being recognized by one of the stores where he had passed the counterfeit bills, police said.

At the Mr. G’s Convenience Store on Tuesday, an employee was speaking to a Bangor police officer about the counterfeit money when Pike rode his bike past the store, according to police.

Officer Steve Jordan caught Pike, but at first could find no counterfeit money. A Walter Street resident called police and alerted them to a handful of bills that a man had thrown on her driveway before Jordan had caught Pike, according to police.

Reid said that the bills Pike fabricated could have a washed or well-used appearance to them, but that they didn’t have the same consistency as real money.

According to reports, federal authorities are investigating the case.