Hay River (Mar 13/06) - Hay River was hit last week with a flurry of fake $100 American bills.

In all, seven counterfeit bills have been collected by the RCMP, who say they were accepted by three retailers on March 8.

Cpl. Jim Forsey of the Hay River RCMP holds fake $100 American bills. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Cpl. Jim Forsey said police believe it was a planned raid into Hay River to convert the fake money into legitimate Canadian currency.

"It was a hit and run," he said, explaining the bills were used to buy small items and Canadian money was given back as change.

Three people were arrested March 9 and have been charged with using the fake money. Brent Simms, 30, of Yellowknife faces five charges, while Barbara Sarasin, 34, faces two counts and Steven Theriault, 30, from Rae, faces two counts. The bills were accepted at three locations - NorthMart, Bigway Foods and the Rooster convenience store.

"It should be a good wake-up call in accepting large bills, especially from strangers," Forsey said, noting counterfeit American money is rare in the NWT. All but one of the bills had the same serial number.

"We don't see American money that often and our staff is not that familiar with it," said Bigway manager Steve Anderson, noting the bill looked good, even though the paper didn't feel quite right.

Descriptions of suspects were gained from surveillance cameras and arrests were made the next day. According to police, the suspects were still in town because their vehicle had mechanical problems.