Two Maryland men are charged with running a scheme in which they purported to make fake currency, but instead stole money from their would-be accomplice.
Court documents say the two men orchestrated a gambit known as a “black money” scam. In such scams, the perpetrators pretend to manufacture counterfeit money, but instead use a sleight of hand to avoid revealing that no fake bills were made and to steal money from a participant in the scam.
Wieme Benson and Charles Dennis are charged in federal court in Baltimore with altering U.S. currency and conspiracy. Federal agents are also seeking to search Benson’s Laurel home and car.
Attorneys for the two men did not respond Wednesday to calls for comment.
An undercover Secret Service agent met with the pair in July about the black money scam, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint doesn’t say how agents learned the pair was running a scam.
At a Linthicum hotel, the men told the agent that if he could come up with a large number of $100 bills, Benson and Dennis could make many counterfeit bills.
In scams, the perpetrators convince a participant to bring them large amounts of money, separate the participant from the cash while the counterfeit bills are being made and then take the real money.
Benson claimed he had access to “Treasury-quality paper and special ink,” the complaint says.
Benson demonstrated the scheme by pouring white powder and a chemical solution onto the purportedly special paper, according to the complaint. He then placed two real $100 bills between two sets of the special paper, put them under lamp and compressed the paper.
He filled a bucket with warm water and said that would be used to wash the money, the complaint says, then placed bills in the bucket. The bills appeared to change color and look like genuine $100 bills, and Benson took them out of the bucket.
The complaint says the agent examined the bills after they were dry, and the four counterfeit $100 bills that Benson claimed to have made “were in fact genuine notes.” Those bills had serial numbers that did not match the two $100 bills that were the basis for the counterfeit.
A similar scheme was uncovered in Virginia this summer. Court records show two men were convicted and one was acquitted in that case.
