LOS ANGELES, May 13 (UPI) -- Five people were arrested in what a U.S. prosecutor said Tuesday could be the largest counterfeiting rings ever busted in Southern California.
The suspects are believed to have churned out as much as $5 million in phony $20 and $100 bills during the past two years.
The U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles said in a written statement that a Secret Service search warrant executed last week turned up an operation allegedly run by a Lawndale, Calif., man who used laser and inkjet printers to produce the funny money. In addition, they said they seized around $1 million in counterfeit bills.
This is one of the largest, if not the largest, counterfeit currency rings we have seen in Southern California," said United States Attorney Thomas O'Brien.
The alleged ringleader, Albert Talton, was arrested along with an assistant and three men who allegedly acted as brokers to move the bogus bills.
