Staff report
Police say a homeless Atlanta man picked up in Salisbury attempting to pass phony $100 bills was apparently part of a network trying to scam businesses.
Aaron Justin Aikens, 21, was charged Friday with five counts of possession of counterfeit bills and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.
Police said Aikens had six counterfeit $100 bills on him when he attempted to buy a Playstation 3 and an iPod at Walmart on Arlington Street.
The six bills had originally been $5 bills that had been washed and printed to look like $100 bills.
Police said Aikens had been recruited and dressed in a new suit to visit stores throughout the region.
Aikens told police that his role had typically been to return merchandise ó bought with counterfeit money ó to stores and collect real money.
He was placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under $30,000 bond.
The U.S. Secret Service recently warned merchants to beware of counterfeit bills
Earlier this month, similar bills ó washed $5 bills reprinted as $100 bills ó showed up in Atlanta.