WILLMAR - Authorities are warning local merchants and citizens about a batch of phony $100 bills that may be circulating around the area.

Thirty-one of the counterfeit bills were netted Monday during an arrest at the Kandiyohi County Courthouse and after a subsequent search warrant executed by the Willmar Police Department in the 1300 block of Southeast Lakeland Drive.

Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue holds a counterfeit $100 bill sealed in an evidence bag at a news conference Wednesday in Willmar. The bill was one of 31 seized Wednesday. West Central Tribune photo by Bill Zimmer Text version of this story

Members of the Willmar Police Department and the Kandiyohi County Attorney's office are worried that more of the phony Franklins are out in the community.

"We occasionally see counterfeit money in the community, but its usually junky stuff," said Boyd Beccue, county attorney. "Most of it's easily detected, so bad that you can pick it out a mile away."

The counterfeit bills recovered by the Willmar Police Department are replicas of the newer $100 bills that were put into circulation by the U.S. Department of Treasury in 1996.

There are three ways merchants and citizens can tell that the bills are phony. The paper on the counterfeit bills is thicker than normal dollar bills.

In addition, the "100" in the lower right-hand corner of the bills lack the color-shifting ink present in authentic bills.

The phony bills also lack the security thread present in authentic bills.

And because law enforcement netted a large number of the bills, they were able to determine that the serial numbers on all of the bills were the same, said Detective Mike Markkanen from the Willmar Police Department.

More of the phony bills have been found in Worthington and in Redwood Falls, said Markkanen.

The Worthington Police Department, Nobles County Sheriff's Department and Redwood County law enforcement are assisting Willmar police in the investigation along with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

"We'll be surprised if more won't show up," said Beccue.

Anyone with information about the bills or anyone who receives any of the counterfeit money are asked to contact the Willmar Police Department at 235-2244, the Kandiyohi County Attorney's Office at 231-2440, or Crime Stoppers at 235-3640.