DELTONA, Fla. – A Walmart employee in Volusia County was arrested Monday night after a fellow employee noticed counterfeit bills in the Deltona store’s safe over the weekend.
On Sunday, an employee noticed the fake bills in the safe's $10,000 cash bundle were counterfeit and told a manager who took a closer look at the bills, officials said.
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The 76 bills totaling $7,600 were blue in appearance, each having a different thickness, texture with “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY” printed on them, officials said.
[Interactive: Explore security features of $100 bill, click here]
Officials said the manager told them the bills were wrapped in a bundle marked “DO NOT USE.”
When loss prevention officer went back to the safe on Monday to take another look at the counterfeit money, the bundle marked was still there, but the fake bills inside were missing, officials said.
After a review of the surveillance footage, officials said that Walmart employee Xiomara Matias-Cruz, 32, was on the footage.
Matias-Cruz who worked in the cash office went into the office on Monday at 6 a.m. to count and verify the money in the safe, which was a part of her normal shift duties.
"Then she found the white “DO NOT USE” package, opened it, made a phone call and appeared to take something from the bundle," the release said.
Officials said she then left the store and drove off in her vehicle only 15 minutes into her work shift.
Further surveillance video review found that Matias-Cruz opened the safe in the cash office on Friday morning.
Officials said it appeared that Matias-Cruz fumbling with something and reaching into her pockets and holding unbundled cash in her hand.
Matias-Cruz was arrested on Monday on charges of grand theft and obtaining property by fraud.
So how can you tell that a bill is authentic and not a counterfeit? The Federal Reserve, which is the United States central banking system, explained.
The Federal Reserve has some tips that you can use to check the authenticity of a bill by looking for the 3D security ribbon, color-shifting ink, watermark, security thread and raised printing.
The $100 bill with Benjamin Franklin's face got a new redesign in 2013, where the security features were added, including the security ribbon and color-shifting Bell in the inkwell, and the watermark for Benjamin Franklin is viewable on both sides of the printed money.