A New Jersey man was sentenced today to 5 years in prison for manufacturing counterfeit currency.
According to court documents, Hollis Forteau, 38, was the leader of a multi-defendant counterfeiting conspiracy. The members of the conspiracy profited by using $100 counterfeit bills to purchase items at a retail store, and then returning those items at another branch of the same store in exchange for genuine currency. Forteau made the counterfeit notes by printing images of $100 bills onto bleached $1 bills. He distributed them to the rest of the group in exchange for a substantial cut of their proceeds.
The United States Secret Service’s counterfeit tracking application revealed that since 2019, over $235,000 in $100 counterfeit bills with similar characteristics have been used across the country.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Matthew Stohler, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Gantt and Andrew Bosse prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-28.