SOUTH PORTLAND — A 20-year-old New York man is being held on charges of aggravated forgery and endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly brought teenage girls to New England to pass counterfeit $100 bills.

A store clerk at the Maine Mall in South Portland told police at about 6 p.m. Monday that a girl had been trying to spend what clearly appeared to be a fake $100 bill. The officer found the girl, who was 16, and over the course of the next hour discovered three other girls in the mall doing the same thing, police said. Police recovered $1,000 in fake currency.

Police then found Andrew D. Cupidore hiding inside a mall bathroom. Police said they arrested Cupidore and suspect that he brought the girls to New England to spend the fake money and get real money as change.

Cupidore is being held on $25,000 bail at the Cumberland County Jail. The four girls are being held at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

Police expect to make additional arrests.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Mainehenchman

 


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