Deputies Arrest 2 Suspected of Printing Counterfeit Money

Two Novato residents were booked Tuesday at Marin County Jail on suspicion of forgery, burglary and theft after an arrest in Kentfield, and a third person connected to the other two faces two more charges, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Department.

A sheriff's deputy recognized a person on probation who was driving through Kentfield at 1:58 a.m. and conducted a traffic stop on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to check on the man's probation terms, Lt. Barry Heying said. A passenger in the car also was found to be on probation, and the officer conducted a search.

The officer discovered several $20 bills that appeared counterfeit, including poor-quality printing, oily residue and lacking certain features of a legitimate $20 bill. A comparison of the bills showed that they all had the same serial number.

A vehicle search yielded a Green Dot gift card, bottles of brandy and lemonade and a receipt from a CVS store showing that they had been purchased 27 minutes earlier. Another deputy went to the store and found that a counterfeit bill had been used to make the purchases.

Heying said investigators believe the purchase of the gift card was an attempt to launder the fake money. He said counterfeit currency cases are rare but on the increase. More often, criminals purchase difficult-to-trace gift cards with stolen credit/debit cards as a way to cover their tracks and secure the value from stolen cards before they can be traced, Heying said.

The driver, Benjamin Phillip Andre, 23, and the passenger, Brett Allan Hatt, 31, both faces charges of forgery, possess stolen property, burglary, conspiracy, petty theft and violation of probation, according to jail records.

Later Tuesday morning, deputies went to Hatt's residence on Loleta Lane and arrested his girlfriend, Lauren Thacher, 26, on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and probation violation.

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