Two NY Men Arrested on Counterfeit Charges

Two New York men were arrested by the Westport Police Department Monday on charges of larceny, forgery and criminal intent after one of the men used counterfeit money at seven local businesses, according to a news release.

Around 4 p.m. Monday, police received a complaint from a local business near the center of town that a Hispanic man had used a counterfeit $100 bill and had left heading eastbound on Post Road East. Westport police officers and detectives checked the area for the suspect and found a Hispanic man matching the description exiting a vehicle and going into a store on Post Road East near the Fairfield town line (about three miles from the first incident).

The man named John Moncado-Moreno, 32, of Queens, N.Y., was apprehended leaving the store where he had just passed another counterfeit $100 bill, according to the release. Police also apprehended Manuel Londondo, 69 of Woodside, N.Y., the driver of the vehicle Moncado-Moreno was riding in. A subsequent investigation revealed that seven stores had been victim of the same crime. 

Moncado-Moreno was issued a $500,000 bond. Londondo was issued a $100,000 bond.

Police also discovered that Moncado-Moreno had outstanding warrants for forgery from Somerset County and Morris County in New Jersey and will face extradition for those charges.

The incident remains under investigation and the U.S. Secret Service is working with the Westport Police Department at this time.