The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Rise in counterfeit money seen locally, a lot ait Siots By STEPHANIE THIESSEN The Champion (ountert cil molles vs ii the rise. and tionsiere is thîs, more ohsîîîîîs than ai Siots ait Moîhawk Raa.etrack. where state-oni-the-art detectors sel- dom let lakes slip thrîîmgh the cracks. "Halton Police are requesîed, on a frequent basis, ta investigate per- sons with caunterfeit currency, which is the qutckest growing offence type," reads a report mub- mitted last month by Hallon Regional Police superintendent Mike Kingston la town counicil. The report noted police respond- cd ta catis regarding suspccted counterfeit money ini the Mohawk acca about 208 limes in the ftrst six motso hsyear. The vast majorily of cails were ta, Slots at Mohawk rather than the racetrack. flic value of tic countctfeil büls seized from January la Jane tis year was $4,240, Staff Sgt. Laeey Masson said. During thic Orsi six montlis last year, Halton police respondcd tci about 164 couniterfecit calîs ai the casino, making for a nearly 27 per cent mncrcase in Uic numbcr af cauniterfeit calîs police respondcd ta ai Mohawk iis year aver lamI. "Our service callm in thc area have multiplied signiftcantly ince the casino opened," Staff Sgt. Masson said. Aittiuugh isý posniblte a levi, of ihoîse ralls this year and last cmnild have heen tii [laces ni the s'iîinuiy of Moihawk and flot the facilîty îtself, and a couple could have been caIls for other reasons. the vasi majoriiy would have been t0 the slols facility when counterfettng was sumpected, Staff Sgt. Masson said. "Ninety-nine, if not 100 per cent of Uic counterfeit money occur- rences would have been ait Uic casi- no," he said ai Uic Guelph Line facility in Campbellville, which opened in 1999. Each tinte a counterfeit bill is reported tai police, an officier must attend in persan, seize thc money and do Uic required paperwork, taking up valuable lime, Staff Sgt. Masson said. Superintendent Kingston said thc reason Uiere seents ta be more counterfeit moncy aI Mohawk than anywhere cIsc around tawn is Uic sheer volunie of cash bcing circu- lated and Mohawk's high-tech detection systcm. "Mohawk has a very saphisticat- cd moncy veriftcation systent," he said, liening Uic issue of counter- feiting ta an iceberg - Uic visible part ai Uic peak represents caunir feit moncy found at Mohawk, while Uic part of Uic iceberg under water ils ai Uic phany currency flot dctected at other places. Every tube an offacer is caltcd toi Moîhawk to insestigate a potential fake bill, it takes about an hiour of the oficer's time, he said. Most limes when people are apprehended at Mohawk in con- nectian wtth counterfeit money, Uiey're found ta be innocent, flot realizing the money was fake, Supertotendent Kingston said. "We don't sec a lot ai rewards in the farm of arrcsts," he said, adding, "It takes a lot ai investigat- ing 10 get tn Uic point where we knaw who made il (Uic moncy)." He mmid thc probleto will most likely gel worse. "WtU Uic strength ai compfuters and printers, it will prabably clumb," he said, adding, "Counterfeiting is an epidemic across Canada." The numberm at Mohawk, he maid, whilc high, arc fairly typical ai what's going on in allier slot facililies across Canada. Therema Roncon, spokespermon for Siots at Mohawk Raceurak, said in a facility wiUi mach a large amaount ai money changing hands, it'm a reality Uial marnie ai Uic bills will be phany. "In ternis ai if its an issue, any counterfeit moncy is an issue, but we have highly-trained staff and deteclion devices." Stephanie Thiessen cun be reached or sthiessen@miltoncana- dianchampion.com. PUMPED GREAT DEALS ON CARS GREAT DEALS ON GAS_ L~~"]&ONU, iddar ac pacu 01 rsF'à..rs Qom etn C"tiî' UP ti OFFERS APPI.Y TO VIRTUALLY AuJ. 2004 AND0 SELECT 2005 MODELS. 0%/ FINANCINO SWJ p onor ÀmcR s tt8De,a(0, '04tttt.t ,,t.,.. o o ttt. m i;on -îthçrtt StttUNFItoRhEto COUPEeoot tottEit'0 mi nnoomead mti oSenotees'$ 0 anada ['10e Ca an i 'at : a péle ' u 'Mt 0il iv dem n ù u, r 0f0,'ý0 ,APP ý8 0Pl1' pjýr-t ~ ~ ~ , 166 2778fi6 ( S-1Lrs f s oL, x ssoooDcIf ,te *,e ma ne a a1 o e ec n u IT Olf rN a h p lc lý ,! ý B n f, , , Q rf, 1 " ' Play~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~t aoeon SulSdceso thrIere 1ýh-ný , ,ý geelce c 20 59 doz. or .15 eacýh aý_ 1qW money mapie 0100g PNW et omam Ham km 88', Kakovsh, N*ey a Toutoes .771 Wýg 8 "«HM$348 SÉM nnOD9 Rogular Store Heure Mon.-Thum, 8:30 am - 7 Pm FI"y 8:30 am - a Pm Satu ý1»y 8;30 .. - 6 p- SunZy 9:00 am - 5 Pm