St. Paul Duo Charged With Using Fake Cash At Strip Club
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two St. Paul residents face criminal charges for allegedly trying to use fake $100 bills at an Inver Grove Heights strip club in December.
The Dakota County Attorney's office says 34-year-old Aaron Jacobs and 24-year-old Carmina Ward were charged Thursday with counterfeiting currency and trying to pass off the phony money at the King of Diamonds Gentleman's Club.
The criminal complaint says an employee contacted police on the night of Dec. 6 after they noticed a $100 bill allegedly used by Jacobs was missing security features, such as the inner strip, floating ghost image and reflective coloring.
Officers questioned Jacobs, who claimed that he didn't know it was a counterfeit bill and he didn't have any other fake bills in his possession. But the employee claimed that Jacobs said that he had additional $100 bills that were questionable.
Police checked the rest of Jacobs' money, as well as cash in the possession of his two male friends, all of which were legit.
When police asked to see Carmina Ward's identification, an officer spotted a stack of folded $100 bills in her purse.
Ward allowed the officers to inspect the 23 $100 bills in her purse, which all failed a test with a counterfeit detector pen.
She later told police that Jacobs gave her the fake money so she could get a lap dance, but she only thought the money amounted to about $40. Ward also claimed that she didn't know Jacobs' name, and was just an acquaintance. She said she also didn't know the other two men, even though they all took a limo together to the club.
King of Diamonds was unable to provide police with security footage because they said their DVR machines weren't working.
Jacobs and Ward could face up to three years in prison if convicted.
