An incident took place this past weekend at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon that has now resulted in the Secret Service getting involved. A man from North Hollywood has been arrested for trying to pass counterfeit $100 while playing at the high limit blackjack tables. The man has now been connected to a very large counterfeit ring.

Movses Dermishyan was visiting the casino this past Thursday afternoon when he sat down at the high limit blackjack tables. The man tried to pass five $100 bills to the dealer and the dealer realized that four of the bills had the same serial numbers. This made the dealer suspicious and he quickly alerted security.

The security officials at the casino detained the gambler and began to ask him questions. The man stated that he only had five of the fake $100 bills but after he was searched, police found that he had an additional $2,100 in fake $100 bills.

James Burton a sergeant of the Sherriff’s department commented on the incident by stating: “Investigators from the Cabazon Station and agents from the Secret Service responded to assist due to the unusually large volume and sophistication of the currency. The Secret Service advised the bills were manufactured in Simi Valley and the San Fernando area of Los Angeles. They will be conducting
additional investigation into the matter as it ties into a large Armenian counterfeit ring currently working in the Los Angeles area.”

After being questioned and searched by police, Dermishyan was arrested on several charges including: burglary, violation of probation and the suspicion of possessing counterfeit currency.


- 2012-01-30