CHRISTIANSTED — Two women and one man have been charged in a simplistic scheme to switch out counterfeit bills for legitimate bills that was captured on camera at a St. Croix grocery store, authorities said.
Police arrested Jose Rodriguez, 28, Kenisha Hendrickson, 35, and Wendy Ann Joseph, 25, all of Bethlehem Village, at 7:30 a.m. Friday and charged them with passing forged bills or notes, obtaining money by false pretense and grand larceny, the Virgin Island Police Department said.
A police investigation revealed that on September 6, 2019, while employed at Cost-U-Less, Hendrickson and Joseph were observed on a surveillance camera switching a sum of money in counterfeit bills that Hendrickson received from Rodriguez with another employee’s daily cash proceeds without that employee’s knowledge, according to the VIPD.
Bail was set at $50,000 for each suspect. Unable to post bail, they were all remanded at the Bureau of Corrections pending their advice-of-rights hearing.
Cost-U-Less is a typical grocery store in a warehouse-like setting.
If you have knowledge of money being stolen from a business or an elderly person, please call 911, the Economic Crimes Unit at (340) 778-2211, or Crime Stoppers USVI at 1(800) 222-8477.
