Ilion Police Warning Of Counterfeit $20 Bills In The Valley

The Ilion Police Department is warning residents and local businesses of of counterfeit $20 bills circulating around the Village and surrounding areas.

The bills have red Chinese writing on them that translates to 'practice' and 'not for use,' and have been used by multiple suspects at a garage sale and a local business.

On Tuesday, Ilion Police arrested Lisa Alukonis of Mohawk for allegedly using one of the bills at a garage sale in Ilion.

Alukonis was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument, and released to Herkimer County Probation with an electronic monitoring device.

Frankfort police have also had three of the counterfeit bills turned in to their department.

The Frankfort PD says the person who turned in the fake bills got them from a suspect who was trying to buy items from Craigslist. When the person selling the items noticed the bills were fake, the suspect 'took off.'

That suspect was a man, possibly going by the name Rob, and was driving an older-model pickup truck.

Police say these bills can be found and bought online, and can come in any U.S. denomination.

If you happen to come across any of these bills, Police are asking that you please bring them to your local police department.