Vegas Undercover

For the past nine months, inside the undercover fencing operation, police have purchased items you'd expect from thieves: cars and guns. 

Now they encounter something they never imagined...its' certainly something we've never seen.

Meet 39-year-old Bryan “Rusty” King. His merchandise? Counterfeit hundred dollar bills. Fake money, he says, is a profitable business.

Bryan Rusty King (on hidden camera): Dude, I made so much money off this *, it's unbelievable.

In his pocket, $2,000 worth of the fakes.

Undercover Officer: Well, what do you have on you right now?

Bryan Rusty King: Couple of grand... I got $2,000 thousand on me.

He hands the bogus bills to the undercover officers.

Where does he get the counterfeits? He says, from some really scary guys. 

Bryan Rusty King:...they don't f*ck around. They're real serious people. There's no fuckin' jokin' around, laughin', like we are. I mean, they're just real quiet.

The undercover Officers carefully examine the counterfeit bills.

And offer to pay Rusty 25 cents on the dollar.

He takes the $500 in real currency for the $2000 in counterfeits.

How does he keep his bills straight?

Bryan Rusty King: That's why I carry two wallets on me. I got one that—that one's for real money...

Rusty says passing counterfeit money has not been difficult.  

He says he simply spends real money in a store, gets change from the clerk—then quickly finds an excuse to introduce a fake bill.

Bryan Rusty King: And, then, I turn around like I'm gonna walk away and I'm gonna—oh, yeah, can you give me a pack of cigarettes or something? I'll throw it down and—

Undercover officer: Yeah. They don't think—

Bryan Rusty King: —in their mind, they just gave 'em to ya.

Undercover officer: Right.

Bryan Rusty King: So they don't think to sit there and look at it. You know?

Undercover officer: Got ya.

Bryan Rusty King: And I haven't had one problem yet.

He claims some of the money is also passed into circulation by an insider at a casino who, he says, takes his fake bills and gives him real currency. 

Bryan Rusty King: We got one guy in the cashier's case in the casino...we got, like, six different people who walk in and they'll take, like, $500 a piece. And they go to fuckin' cashiers cage, they give him the money. And he takes it.  But the way he inserts it and turns it in—I guess, somehow he's mixing it up. They've been funnelin' the money to this f*ckin' casino for almost a year.

Rusty says the counterfeiters have been trying to refine the process - in an effort to improve the product.

In fact, he says they're holding back some recently printed bills to make sure they're just perfect.

Bryan Rusty King: I mean, we're waiting now, just to see, hold the bill for a couple of days, and see if anything, anything funny happens, like, you know, changes colors or anything weird.

The officers want to know more about how these bills are made.

A lot more—so—a few weeks later, Rusty is back. Now Rusty tells them he's on his own—there aren't any partners. 

And this time, in a garage behind the storefront...for 1,500 dollars...he will give them a demonstration in the fine art of counterfeiting.

We're watching from the back room.

Chris Hansen: Rusty has no idea he's talking to undercover police officers.

First, he takes real five dollar bills—and sets out to remove all of their ink.

Apparently, making counterfeit money isn't as hi-tech as one would imagine.  

He soaks them in a degreaser bought at an automotive store... and heats them up for a minute or so in a microwave oven.....

Undercover officer: What's—what's a good amount of time to leave them in there...? 

Bryan Rusty King: One and a half minutes to leave it in there.

Undercover officer: But, I mean, and then you—

Bryan Rusty King: No longer than—than ten minutes in there at all.

He teaches them how to brush the bills clean.

Chris Hansen: Rusty is showing the undercover officers how to clean the bills, and actually taking the ink right off.

He finishes washing the bill in a bowl of water and sprays it with a household cleaner.

Undercover officer: What does that do...?

Bryan Rusty King: Just cleaning that crap off of it.

This is giving new meaning to the phrase laundering money.

And then he uses a hairdryer to finish the drying process.

When he's done....what used to be a $5 bill is virtually blank, except for the watermark of Abraham Lincoln.

Undercover officer: What is that called?

Bryan Rusty King: That's Abraham.

To make the fake hundred he'll use an inkjet printer.

Undercover officer: So ink jet printer, never a laser printer?

Bryan Rusty King: Right. Ink jet.

He scans a photo of a real hundred dollar bill.

Bryan Rusty King: Yeah, you want to make sure the bill is centered...The machine—the machine is scanning this every time. And that's what it's putting on top of here.

...and prints it on top of the blank paper he just created from that five dollar bill.

Undercover officer: Dude, I think you just solved our problem.

Video   Selling guns to cops? This woman agrees to talk to NBC’s Chris Hansen after getting busted trying to sell guns to undercover officers. Dateline NBC

The job is finished. The result: A counterfeit hundred dollar bill. What's the quality? The police say as counterfeits go—it's fairly good.

Chris Hansen: So if someone were to take the time to hold this up to a light you could actually see Abraham Lincoln and the $5 strip here.

Undercover officer: Correct.

Chris Hansen: But most people don't do that.

Undercover office: Most people just look to see that there's some sort of portrait which is a reflection, and that there's some sort of strip here.

But for his part, Rusty's proud of his work.

Bryan Rusty King: Unless you're an expert in money, how the f*ck would you tell if it was fake or real?

In case you’re thinking of trying this at home, you should know we've left out a number of key steps. And one more thing: counterfeiting is a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

When this demonstration is done, the undercover detectives tell Rusty they'll be in touch.

That may be an understatement.

Officer: We got him in custody.

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