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Jeffrey Cardenas, 22, and Marlon Quiroga, 19, of Elmhurst, N.Y., and a 17-year-old Queens resident were each charged with 27 counts of first-degree forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit forgery and four counts of criminal attempt sixth-degree larceny. Cardenas and Quiroga were also each charged with interfering with an officer.
Cardenas and Quiroga were each held on $20,000 bond, and the 17-year-old was released on a juvenile summons.
On Saturday, Oct. 25, police received multiple complaints from businesses on Post Road of a Hispanic female trying to buy items with a $100 bill that may be fake. Police found the juvenile female in Beadz Boutique, where she was attempting to make a purchase, police said. She told police that she had recently sold two iPads on Craigslist for $500 and was using bills that she received in that transaction.
Police doubted her story, and discovered that she had seven counterfeit $100 bills in her possession, according to police reports. She told police that her boyfriend, Cardenas, was parked behind Panera Bread.
Officers found Quiroga and Cardenas in a rented 2014 Mazda SUV. Police said they detected the odor of marijuana, and said that a new 48-inch television and Laurent doll furniture were in the back seat. Police said it was not clear whether the items were stolen, as neither had a receipt. Police also found $280 in cash and 20 fake $100 bills in the car.
Police said that both Cardenas and Quiroga gave fake names to the officers. Fingerprints later determined their real identities, according to the police.
The juvenile's father came to pick her up, and she was interviewed by a detective and a special agent from the Secret Service. She told police that Cardenas had given her the money and told her to buy items for the change. She said that they had done this several times in the past month, mostly in New York, according to police.
She also told them that they had picked up the counterfeit bills from a "tall Mexican with a large belly" in Woodside, Queens.
This was the second counterfeiting arrest in Darien last week. Police also picked up a pair who tried to use counterfeit $100 bills at several stores in the same area.
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