Bogus $100 bill that turned up at a busy shopping plaza in The Villages have been traced to a suspect who has been apprehended.
Joshua Alan Wilson, 41, walked into 7-Eleven at Magnolia Plaza in The Villages around 12:20 a.m., Feb. 17, according to a warrant affidavit from the Wildwood Police Department. He paid for a $17.16 transaction with a counterfeit $100 bill, receiving $82.84 as change.
He came back later that day at 11:04 p.m. to make a $21.69 purchase. He again used a counterfeit $100 bill and received $78.31 in change, the report said.
Although the bills initially passed a counterfeit-detection marker test, a closer look using authentication guidance from the United States Secret Service revealed inconsistencies with genuine U.S. currency. These included the absence of microprinting, an irregular watermark and a lack of color-shifting ink in the right places, the report said.
Wilson was arrested this past week on two counts of fraud. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $5,000 bond.