NJ police say man dressed up as his mother to try to withdraw money from her bank account

Police: Man dresses up as mom to withdraw cash

Gee whizz: Mo. lawmaker suggests a wee bit of trouble for users of fake urine for drug tests

Mo. mulls ban on fake urine samples for drug tests

Detroit police confiscate about $700,000 worth of counterfeit clothing, apparel in raids

Detroit police seize counterfeit clothing, goods

Border agents seize $1.6 million in counterfeit toys at California border points

Border agents seize $1.6M in counterfeit toys

Customs agents seize more than $640,000 in counterfeit goods from 21 Minnesota businesses

Feds in Minn. seize more than $640K in fake goods

Police: Pa. murder suspect tried to get burial plot next to the wife he’s accused of killing

Cops: Pa. man wanted burial plot by wife he killed

Italy’s top security official: Algerian cell financing terror smashed with 17 arrests

Italy: 17 Algerians arrested in terrorism probe

Colombia reports seizure of $19 million in counterfeit US currency in 2009; big rise from 2008

Colombia seizes $19M in forged US bills in 2009

American jailed for allegedly plotting to incite unrest to stand trial in junta-ruled Myanmar

American to stand trial in Myanmar for fraud

YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar-born American jailed for allegedly plotting to incite unrest in the military-ruled country was brought before a court Wednesday on charges that carry a sentence of up to 14 years, his lawyer said.

Myanmar-born American on trial for allegedly planning to incite unrest

YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar-born American jailed for allegedly planning to incite unrest in the military-ruled country was brought before a court Wednesday to face charges, his lawyer said.

Pa. police say woman put stolen check in church offering and stole a wallet from a pew

NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. — Police said a woman put a forged $50 check in a church offering plate and stole a woman’s wallet from a pew in the same western Pennsylvania church. New Brighton police Chief Charles Van Fossan said Tuesday that police were still searching for a 20-year-old woman. She allegedly committed the crimes at First Presbyterian Church in New Brighton on Sunday.

NY indictment accuses high-profile Democratic fundraiser of $292 Ponzi scheme

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have charged a wealthy fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton and other top Democrats in an alleged $292 million Ponzi scheme that spanned more than a decade, saying he used some of the proceeds to support election campaigns.

Sarkozy, Villepin among key players in French slander trial

The key players in a major French trial opening Monday involving allegations of a high-level political smear campaign called the Clearstream affair:

Egypt sentences 2 American couples to two-year prison terms, fines in illegal adoptions case

CAIRO — Two American couples who say they were trying to adopt children in Egypt were convicted of human trafficking and sentenced to two years in prison Thursday in a case that highlighted the murky process for adopting in this predominantly Muslim country.

Counterfeit $50 bills showing up at yard sales in Colorado

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Police say someone is using counterfeit $50 bills at yard sales in Colorado.

Firm forged letters from NAACP, Latino group to lawmaker on climate bill

WASHINGTON — A Washington grassroots lobbying firm has acknowledged forging anti-climate bill letters purporting to be from a local NAACP chapter and a Latino advocacy group to a Virginia lawmaker, and a congressional committee said it was launching an investigation.

NJ governor calls scale of corruption ‘outrageous’ as 3 mayors among those arrested in sweep

NEWARK, N.J. — Officials are decrying political corruption in New Jersey after more than 40 people, among them rabbis and elected officeholders, were arrested in an investigation in which some were accused of laundering tens of millions of dollars and of black-market trafficking of kidneys and fake Gucci handbags.

ACORN, ACLU file federal lawsuit to strike down Pa. law regulating voter-registration workers

PITTSBURGH — The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down a state law used to prosecute voter-registration workers who allegedly employed a quota system in the Pittsburgh area.

Supreme Court won’t decide whether fake money needs to look real for counterfeiting conviction

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments from a Wal-Mart cashier who said the fake money she agreed to take from counterfeiters was so poorly made that she shouldn’t have been convicted of working with them.

Police support Australian PM’s claim that politically incriminating e-mail is a forgery

CANBERRA, Australia — Police said Monday that an e-mail challenging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s honesty in his 19-month-old government’s biggest political crisis appeared to be a forgery.

Medtronic made $850,000 in payments to surgeon who Army says wrote bogus study

WASHINGTON — Medical device maker Medtronic paid about $850,000 over nearly 10 years to a former Army surgeon accused of forging signatures and falsifying data for a study touting the benefits of one of the company’s implants.

Alabama man arrested for trying to pass a fake $100 bill at McDonald’s

MADISON, Ala. — Police have arrested a man for trying to pass a fake $100 bill at McDonald’s, leading to a find of $16,000 more in counterfeit C-notes. Police said the man was arrested Monday after an employee at McDonald’s reported someone trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill. A preliminary investigation led police to find $6,200 in counterfeit $100s in his possession.

South Carolina woman arrested for allegedly writing fake doctor’s notes for students

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Students have been known to try to fake a doctor’s note to get out of school. A South Carolina woman has now been arrested and accused of writing fake doctor’s notes for four students. The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported Wednesday that 45-year-old Naomi Antoinette Aranda was charged with forgery. Horry County police said she wrote notes for four students at Socastee High School, including her own child.

2 California men arrested in ring providing bogus driver’s licenses in the West and Mexico

GREENFIELD, Calif. — Police say two suspected California counterfeiters operated a massive bogus driver’s license ring for customers in the West and Mexico.

New financial sanctions could hit shadowy businesses that funnel money to North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — Room 39 is one of the most secret organizations in arguably the world’s most secretive state. Its mission: Obtain foreign currency for the regime of North Korea’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Il.

Argentine court clears alleged forger by reason of incompetence: His money was just too funny

BUENOS AIRES — An Argentine man who tried to use two counterfeit bills has been found innocent, by reason of incompetence.

NKorean boat’s intrusion into SKorean waters triggers naval standoff amid high tensions

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea said a North Korean patrol boat entered its waters around their disputed maritime border Thursday but backed off after nearly an hour following repeated warnings. A senior American diplomat meanwhile cautioned Pyongyang that its bad behavior would no longer be rewarded.

Review: ‘Art of Making Money’ worthy addition to con-men books like ‘Catch Me If You Can’

“The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter” (Penguin, 304 pages, $26), by Jason Kersten: When the Federal Reserve Bank debuted a redesigned $100 bill in 1996, it was trumpeted as the most high-tech, counterfeit-proof currency to date. It took Art Williams four months to produce a convincing duplicate of it.

Clinton’s deputy says US won’t make same mistake of rewarding NKorea’s bad behavior

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. warned Thursday that North Korea’s bad behavior will no longer be rewarded following its recent nuclear test, and tensions flared further as a North Korean patrol boat intruded into South Korean-claimed waters, officials said.

Report: US pushing hard to slap strong financial sanctions on North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. is pushing hard to slap strong financial sanctions against North Korea as part of U.N. punishments or even as indepedent measures for the communist nation’s latest nuclear test, news reports said Thursday.