Carleton’s department of campus safety is investigating after two Charlatan editors were involved in separate incidents involving the exchange of counterfeit money on Carleton’s campus this past weekend.
Rooster’s Café supervisor, Charlatan photo editor and third-year political science student Adam Dietrich said he received a fake $10 bill from a customer while working at Rooster’s Nov. 13.
The next evening, Charlatan features editor and third-year journalism student Mitch Vandenborn was given a fake $5 bill from a cashier at the Residence Commons Tim Horton’s.
Dietrich said he was working as a cashier and a customer approached him and purchased a breakfast pita. After the customer handed Dietrich a $10 bill, he said he initially noticed the bill didn’t feel like real money.
“After I noticed that [the bill] didn’t feel like real money, I looked at it and I saw that it didn’t have a security seal. Then I held it up against the light and when I didn’t see the second face appear, I knew the bill was fake,” Dietrich said.
Dietrich said that this was the first time that he has ever encountered fake money since working at Rooster’s.
“I’ve worked various cashier jobs since I was 15, and at every one I have seen at least one fake [bill]. Fake $5 and $10 bills are new and more common than larger bills such as 50s or 100s,” Dietrich said.
The following evening on Nov. 14, Vandenborn went to Tim Horton’s at Residence Commons. He said he paid $10 for a tea and received a five and some change in return.
“On my walk back home I noted that the five felt different and I compared it to a 20 that I had in my pocket,” Vandenborn said.
Vandenborn said he reported the incident to the department of campus safety but didn’t feel like going through the effort to try and retrieve compensation for a $5 bill.
Special Constable Michael Warner said that since he started working at Carleton in June, “this has been the first reported incident of counterfeit money.”
The episodes this past weekend haven’t been the first involving counterfeit money. Abstentions manager Katie Nenych said before she was manager, she worked as a cashier.
“I have worked cashier since May. I have encountered counterfeit $5 and $10 bills three or four times.”
Counterfeit money hasn’t been a persistent issue at Carleton. Abstensions cashier James Salmon said that he has never received fake money from a customer.
Allan Burn, director of the department of campus safety, said that they will be investigating the cases, but he believes they are isolated incidents with no direct connection to Carleton.