Groveland Twp. – A local man working under several aliases will soon face charges for manufacturing counterfeit money, says Michael Baucum of the U.S. Secret Service in Detroit.
Adam Robert Lamon, 30, of Groveland Township, was arrested April 18 after arriving at Print & Copy Express in Holly to wrap $320,000 in counterfeit currency, along with Frederick William Holling Jr., 38, chair of the Holly Planning Commission.
Lamon and Holling were released on $10,000 unsecured bonds, and will appear May 30 before U.S. District Magistrate Virginia Morgan for a preliminary hearing. The pair face possible sentencing of fines and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years, said Baucum.
The Holly Police Department has been working on the case for months, said Holly Detective Scott Fischer.
‘We followed up on information we received and determined it was accurate,? said Fischer. ‘The Secret Service was contacted about February; they assigned agents and followed up with the investigation and ran with it.?
Although Lamon has no prior criminal record, his recently discontinued Web site depicted a colorful background, says Fischer.
The site, www.adamthick.com, featuring marijuana leaves and a parental advisory label, detailed previous ‘white collar-criminal? goals, as well as an affiliation with a society called ‘Shady Elite? determined to quickly accumulate wealth ‘by any means necessary?, Fischer said.
Lamon, who could not be reached for comment, had also made a name for himself as a metro Detroit-area rapper called Mr. Scrillion, a.k.a. Adam Thick.
In music reviews, Lamon is also referred to as ‘Goldfinger?, calling himself an anti-hero comparable to the ‘Kramer? character of TV’s ‘Seinfeld?, who rejects ‘gangsta? rap by parodying rasta locks with octopus tentacles.
But Lamon made the biggest name for himself last year with his controversial kidnapping-for-the-thrill-of-it business venture, in which clients pay from $150 to more than $1,000 to be kidnapped or to have a friend kidnapped.
Although Lamon has Muscular Dystrophy, it wasn’t because of any physical disability that he was prompted to entice more partners to distribute the faux $20 bills. ‘It was because of the amount of money he had to turn around,? said Fischer, who calls the case the biggest counterfeiting investigation he’s dealt with.
It was a priority for officers and agents to arrest suspects and confiscate counterfeit currency before it was distributed, Fischer said, as the crime can leave countless victims with the choice of breaking the law by intentionally passing counterfeit bills they’ve received, or losing their cash by contacting police.
Using ‘old school? professional printing equipment to print layers of color onto counterfeit bills is rare these days, says Baucum, as most attempts at counterfeiting are now made through home computers. Despite frequent treasury changes to keep up with technology, counterfeiting is an ongoing problem.
‘Most people can’t tell you who’s on a $10 bill,? said Baucum, ‘so how can they tell if it’s counterfeit??
For more information on detecting counterfeit money, go to http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml.