The Russell Springs Police Department has been investigating a case of counterfeit money being passed at local businesses. Assistant Police Chief Jamie Rogers has been investigating the activity in Russell Springs and noted that at least three local businesses have been affected by the scam. K-Mart, Rite Aid, and Taco Bell have all caught the counterfeit bills before any made it any further.

“I’ve only worked with three businesses, but I believe there have been more counterfeit bills circulated at other businesses in the county that weren’t immediately caught and likely made it to the bank,” Rogers said.

Rogers notes that if a counterfeit bill is caught at any of the banks, they immediately have it sent to the Secret Service for further investigation.

He also noted that these bills are a little bit harder to catch due to the fact that they are printed on actual money, making it impossible for the bills to be caught by using the normal marker pen. He says that they take bills of lower denomination, usually five or ten dollar bills, and use Acetone or other similar products to “bleach out” the denominational note and print $100 dollar bills over it. This can be done with the use of a high-quality printer.

Rogers also goes on to say that the counterfeit money can be caught by holding it up to an unfiltered light source and looking at the holographic image. The image normally will show the original denomination of the bill. Also, by looking at, and reading, the security strip on the bill when held up to the light, you can determine whether the bill is counterfeit or legitimate.

Businesses and citizens need to be careful when dealing with larger bills to ensure that they are legitimate. Do not rely on a marker pen alone to determine if a bill is counterfeit or not. When dealing with $100 bills, you should always hold it up to a light and read the security strip to make sure the bill has the correct amount on it. Police recommend that if businesses do come across counterfeit money, they should not return it to the person, but instead, hold the bill and call police.

Russell County is not the only county to be affected by the counterfeit money. Officials in Casey, Lincoln, Garrard, Adair, Jessamine, and Boyd counties have also reported cases of counterfeit bills being passed in businesses. Police officials in several of these counties are working together to catch those behind the scam.

If anyone has any information about counterfeit money, they can contact the Russell Springs Police Department at 270-866-3636.

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The Russell Springs City Council met in a special call meeting on Thursday, June 27 to discuss a prospective business that is considering locating in Russell County. The unnamed business will be an automotive company that will make vent and trim systems for several automobile companies.

Donna Diaz, from Lake Cumberland Area Development District, proposed a tax incentive plan for the prospective business that would include the payroll taxes from month 25 of operation to month 73 being donated to the Russell County Industrial Development Authority to assist in lease payments for the building. The same measures were adopted by the fiscal court earlier in the day. The resolution passed by a vote of 6-0.

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Clarification: What follows is a restatement of what occurred relating to the recent Marinas International Chapter 11 by Gregg Kenny, Managing Partner, Flagship Marinas.

This filing has nothing to do with the company that manages Jamestown Marina and Resort and nothing whatsoever to do with Jamestown Marina and Resort or Flagship Marinas in total.

“On June 10, 2013, Marinas International Consolidated, LP, Marinas International Consolidated II, LP, and Marinas International Consolidated II–Ouachita, LP, filed for protection under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. These three entities were formed via sale-leaseback transactions with CNL Lifestyle Properties. The three properties in bankruptcy are solely tenants at 11 marinas. These marinas are managed by a separate and distinct management company, International Marina Group I, LP dba Marinas International that has not filed for bankruptcy. The debtor tenants continue to employ IMG as their management company pursuant to section 1107(a) and 1108 of the Bankruptcy Court. The debtor tenants filed their chapter 11 case in order to negotiate with their landlord and reorganize under chapter 11. While in bankruptcy, the debtor tenants will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business.”