Man accused of passing fake $100 bill

Police uncovered a small counterfeit money operation Tuesday inside the family home of a Glendale man after he tried to use a fake $100 bill at a local convenience store, officials said.

Andre Khanyan, 37, was arrested on suspicion of possessing and making fake money after patrol officers discovered fake bills and printing materials inside a room in his father’s home in the 1200 block of Thompson Avenue, police said.

Officers also found at least a half-dozen fake bills submerged in a chemical solution inside a tray.

“By the looks of this, he’s been doing this for a while,” Officer Robert Wynkoop said.

The police investigation unfolded after Khanyan tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at about 9 a.m. to a clerk at 7-Eleven on Sonora Avenue and San Fernando Road, Officer Bill Donely said.

The clerk quickly noticed the bill was fake because the image was off-center.

Khanyan tried to retrieve the bill, allegedly saying that he just received it from Bank of America and offered to return it to the bank. But the clerk refused to return the bill and showed it to a manager, so he offered to pay with a $20, Donely said.

Khanyan, who had an outstanding warrant for driving on a suspended or revoked license, eventually took off in a car driven by someone else, but the manager’s husband wrote down the license plate number and gave it police, he said.

Police tracked down the driver, who provided them with Khanyan’s home address, Wynkoop said.

Khanyan, who’s on probation for a narcotics violation, allowed officers to enter his room, where they found the fake bills, Wynkoop said. Some bills were stacked and integrated with real money, he added.

“There were fake bills everywhere,” he said.

U.S. Secret Service agents, tasked with investigating cases of counterfeit money, said the bills did not appear to have passed on to other hands because the quality of reproduction was so bad.

Khanyan’s father told police that he didn’t known his son had the fake bills in his room because his door was always locked, and that he hadn’t been inside for more than a year, Donely said.

The bills were basic paper notes likely made by photocopying a real bill on a digital printer, authorities said.