Seven people are linked to a Livermore police investigation after a tip from shopping mall security guards led officers to a hotel room stocked with equipment for printing fake $50 and $100 bills, along with methamphetamine allegedly meant for sale. Police say security at San Francisco Premium Outlets contacted officers after counterfeit money was passed. Officers later went to a nearby hotel.
According to the Livermore Police Department, outlet mall security contacted police after counterfeit money was passed. Officers then searched hotel rooms and found equipment and materials used to produce counterfeit currency, along with suspected methamphetamine.
Police say the group had produced counterfeit $50 and $100 bills and reportedly passed some of the fake money at several stores inside the outlets. Investigators believe the seven allegedly planned to spend more of the counterfeit bills at the mall over the weekend before the operation was disrupted.
Seven Names, One Sweeping Set of Charges
The department's Facebook post identifies Aaron Cutchon among people connected to the case.
Police also discussed the arrests. PRCS is a supervision framework created under California's Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, also known as AB 109, which shifted post-prison monitoring of non-violent felons from state parole officers to county probation departments, according to the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Under the same realignment guidelines, people on PRCS who violate supervision terms may face local sanctions for technical violations, according to the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.
What the Law Says About Fake Bills and Printing Equipment
California treats counterfeit currency as a serious felony matter on two fronts. Under Penal Code Section 480, possessing or manufacturing any die, plate, apparatus, paper, or machine used to counterfeit bank notes is punishable by up to four years in state prison, according to Gorelick Law. Separately, Penal Code Section 475 addresses possession or receipt of a counterfeit item with intent to pass or sell it, per Eisner Gorin LLP.
The investigation involved San Francisco Premium Outlets, the retail hub where the alleged scheme played out.
A Familiar Pattern Across the Bay Area
Counterfeit cash cases have surfaced repeatedly around the region in recent months. Hoodline previously reported on another Bay Area cash case. The article also references another Bay Area counterfeit-cash case.
Nationally, the amount of counterfeit currency in circulation was not established here. Whether federal investigators will join the Livermore case also remains unclear.
This is not the first time San Francisco Premium Outlets has drawn police attention this year. The article also references earlier police activity at the outlets but does not establish the details of those incidents. Whether any of the counterfeit bills from this latest case made it into wider circulation before the arrests remains an open question for investigators.
