HIAWASSEE, Ga. – Hiawassee Police Chief Paul Smith advised citizens to be on the lookout for counterfeit bills that could be circulating in the area. Smith delivered his department’s monthly update during Monday’s council work session at City Hall.

Smith received a call from United Community Bank earlier in the day, stating that the branch had received several counterfeit bills with Japanese script printed on the rearside. Smith presented a counterfeit $20 bill that the police department had on file as an example of what to potentially look for. While some counterfeiters produce shoddy replicas, other fraudulent bills can be more difficult to detect.

Hiawassee Police Chief Paul Smith updates the council and citizens

“Sometimes what they’ll do is take actual dollar bills, and bleach them, and then print on top of them so they feel like a real bill,” Smith said, “Take a good look at the money before you accept it.”
Smith suggested holding bills against a light source to check for the embedded security strip, or using a counterfeit banknote detection pen to determine authenticity.

At the beginning of the report, Smith recapped the manhunt which took place in the vicinity of Upper Bell Creek Road the previous week. What began as a traffic stop initiated by Hiawassee Police Department led to a multi-agency search, the capture of two fleeing suspects, four arrests, and the recovery of stolen firearms. “It was a happy ending to a stressful three days,” the police chief concluded.

In addition, Chief Smith relayed that the department had recently received an anonymous, hand-written letter stating that an individual residing within the community has been driving under the influence of alcohol on a daily basis, with the author inquiring as to why the agency is allowing the habit to occur. Smith said that due to the appreciated information, he is now aware of the situation, and his agency can investigate the matter.

“We don’t get to see everything,” Smith explained, “There’s a thousand cars going through here at any given time so it’s hard to pick out that one car that might be drunk. So if you see something, please let us know. If you’re aware of something that’s going on, please let us know. You don’t have to make a formal report or anything. You can send an anonymous letter.”

As residents exited the meeting, several stopped to shake the chief’s hand, thankful for his department’s service to the community.

Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that attracts more than 300,000 page views and 3.5 million impressions per month in Towns, Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. – FYNTV attracts approximately 15,000 viewers per week and reaches between 15,000 to 60,000 per week on our Facebook page. – For the most effective, least expensive local advertising, call 706-276-6397 or email us at [email protected]