[UPDATE] Port Chester Police: Watch Out for Fake $100 Bills

UPDATE (4 PM FRIDAY) - Police say the fake $100 bills used in Port Chester and White Plains have a lot in common. It turns out that as in White Plains, the counterfeit bills in Port Chester were also bleached to wash out the original ink and were then printed upon to make it look like the bills were $100s, not $5s.

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Everyone loves to see Benjamin Franklin, but he's not getting a lot of respect these days in Port Chester.

For the second time in just a few days, Port Chester Police say they have received reports of bogus $100 bills being passed at stores in the village. Police are warning merchants to be on the look out for the fake $100s.

Port Chester Police are also investigating whether there is a connection between the bogus bills passed on Monday at the local Staples store and bills that were passed Sunday at the Pathmark supermarket in Port Chester.

On Monday, police said two men made separate purchases at about 7:30 p.m. at the Staples store. Both men used two $100 bills in the purchases, with the bills all being fake — and having the same serial numbers.

On Sunday, a Port Chester man was accused of passing four fake $100 bills as he tried to make a purchase Pathmark, according to Port Chester police.

Mark Matthews, 24, of 17 River Road, Port Chester, was arrested about 2:47 p.m. Sunday at the Port Chester Pathmark store after he attempted to buy a prepaid Visa card for $350, police said. Store workers called police after they noticed all four $100 bills used to make the purchase had the same serial number.

Police said Matthews was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and he faces a hearing in Port Chester Village Court.

Police said they U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Treasury Department are involved with the investigation of the incidents in Port Chester.

In an incident in nearby White Plains, police say a $5 bill appears to have been bleached so that its original printing faded and the bill could have the face of a $100 bill printed on the face of the bill.