Ann Arbor police say they have arrested a man in connection to an elaborate counterfeit money and credit card scheme.
According to police, they arrested the 30-year-old California man and recovered dozens of items from a "mobile counterfeit lab" that has hit at least three other cities in Michigan over the past several months.
It all started over the past few days when several counterfeit $20 bills were passed through the Ann Arbor area.
On Monday, a man tried to use a bill at a gas station. The clerk determined the bill was fake and got a license plate from the car. Police tracked the car to a Hertz rental car agency and searched the area.
They eventually located the vehicle in a hotel parking lot and arrested him as he exited the hotel elevator near State St. and I-94.
When they executed a search warrant, they found several dozen sheets of counterfeit currency, several dozen counterfeit credit, debit, gift and iTunes gift cards, numerous electronic devices capable of making the IDs and credit cards and numerous fake driver's licenses.
Police say the suspect allegedly steals a person's identity and then uses it to create credit cards. They believe the operation has crossed into several states using numerous rental cars and hotel rooms in what they believe keeps the criminal enterprise mobile.
He is currently in the Washtenaw County jail and charges have been requested. He is expected to be arraigned on Thursday.
