ROUND POND, Maine — Local officials and the U.S. Secret Service on Wednesday arrested 32-year-old Tobin Burnham of Round Pond and charged him with felony aggravated forgery after police say he made and passed counterfeit bills in several midcoast towns.
Burnham was arrested Wednesday morning at his home after the U.S. Secret Service and members of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Damariscotta Police Department executed a search warrant there and allegedly seized items including several computers and a color printer, Lt. Michael Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Murphy said Burnham allegedly passed $20 and $5 bills in Damariscotta, Newcastle and Waldoboro. Local police subsequently received complaints from area businesses and financial institutions who said they had received the bills.
Burnham was allegedly identified after police reviewed surveillance camera videos and an eyewitness allegedly identified him, according to Murphy.
Murphy said police suspect Burnham was making the bills himself. Investigators are not sure whether he acted alone.
They believe the money was passed in other businesses as well.
“Usually when we have these cases, they spread out like a spider web,” Murphy said. “People pass [the bills] from person to person. They’re fair- to good-quality — good enough to pass the first time unless you knew your money.”
Burnham was charged with Class B aggravated forgery and taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. He was released Wednesday afternoon on $1,000 unsecured bail, according to a jail official.
Burnham could face federal charges following a review by the Secret Service, according to Murphy.
Anyone with information about the alleged crime is asked to contact Detective Scott Hayden of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 882-7332 or shayden@co.lincoln.me.us.