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OREM — Two children were stopped trying to use counterfeit $50 bills for their parents at University Mall, according to Orem police.
A 12- and 13-year-old tried to use fake $50 bills in three stores while their parents were with them, according to Lt. Craig Martinez of the Orem Police Department. He said the kids didn't know the money was counterfeit.
"They would send the kids into different stores and just tell them to buy something," Martinez said.
Mall security notified police after one of the stores told them someone had tried to pass a counterfeit $50 bill, he said. They recognized the bill was fake because stores mark high-value bills to determine if they are real or not.
He said when the cashier at the store told the child the bill was fake and asked for alternative payment, the child and parent left.
The children tried to buy a game at GameStop and make other purchases at the Disney Store and Build-A-Bear. The child was the one handing over the money each time and none of the stores accepted the $50 bills, Martinez said.
The two children were detained by mall security when police arrived. Martinez said they were there with their parents, who are not married, and an uncle. Abel Uirbe, 31, and Jose Ayala, 20, were arrested on suspicion of possession of forged writing and taken to Utah County Jail.
Martinez said the mother, 30-year-old Leticia Aguirre, was released to go home with the two children and an infant she was carrying with her, but has been referred for charges. The Department of Family and Child Services has been notified of the situation, he said.
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Police are looking to find a man they say has been counterfeiting $20 bills and using them to scam businesses into giving him real cash over the last several weeks.Martinez said he thought the parents were trying to get merchandise and change left over after passing the bill. Items like the game the kids tried to buy cost close to $50, he said.
Detectives are still looking into how the counterfeit money was made, but said the bills weren't very sophisticated. One cashier told investigators they could tell the money was fake before he even marked the bill.
Martinez said it looks like this is the first time the family had tried to use the money.
"When we book in counterfeit money we always check the serial number to see if that same serial number has been used anywhere else or if we've had any other cases started, and we have not found that in this case," he said.
A search of court records showed that Ayala pleaded guilty in 2011 to attempted burglary, a third-degree felony, and theft, a class A misdemeanor. Aguirre pleaded no contest to class A misdemeanor theft in the same year.
Since 2001, Uribe has faced a felony charge for possession or use of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor charges of possession with intent to distribute drug paraphernalia, burglary of a vehicle, criminal mischief, manufacture or possession of burglary tools, theft, and simple assault.
Contributing: Marc Giauque and Morgan Jacobsen
