NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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WASAGA BEACH - Officers from the Huronia West detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) arrested a resident of Barrie recently for using counterfeit currency at various businesses in the Wasaga Beach area.
On Sept. 23, 2019 Huronia West OPP officers received a complaint of a counterfeit U.S. $50 bill that was used at a business in Wasaga Beach. Officers were able to obtain a description of the unknown suspect and began patrols in the area. Shortly after officers located a suspect fitting the description on 47th Street South.
Further investigation found that the subject had attended several businesses in the Wasaga Beach area and had used $50 U.S. bills with the same serial number. At the time of the arrest, the subject was found to be in possession of two more $50 U.S. bills with the same serial number.
Jamie Ann O’Leary (30 years) of Barrie, Ont. was arrested and is charged with:
• Adult possessing counterfeit money - have in custody CC 340(b) (four counts)
• Adult uttering counterfeit money - utter CC 452(a) (three counts)
• Adult fail to comply with probation order CC 733.1(1)
• Adult obstruct peace officer CC 129(a)
The accused was held for a bail hearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie.
This is a good reminder to all merchants to be vigilant when accepting larger denominations of cash for small purchases or to exchange for Canadian currency.
In this occurrence the serial number on the American bills were #88976. There is a possibility that more businesses may have taken the bills as being genuine. If this is the case please contact the OPP Provincial Communications Centers at 1-888-310-1122 to report the incident to your local detachment.
For more information on this topic and to help identify counterfeit bills visit here.
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