U.S. Secret Service officials on Friday arrested an Arizona Home Depot employee accused of replacing nearly $400,000 worth of cash with counterfeit bills.
Agents arrested Adrian Jean Pineda after he allegedly counted and sealed genuine cash into bags for transfer and deposit at a Wells Fargo bank before replacing it with his own counterfeit cash between January 2018 and January 2022, according to the Secret Service.
“The Secret Service was originally formed in 1865 to enforce federal laws against counterfeiting,” U.S. Secret Service Phoenix Field Office Special Agent in Charge Frank Boudreaux Jr. said in a Friday statement. “This case illustrates the continued commitment of the Secret Service and the US Attorney’s Office to investigating and prosecuting counterfeit violations.”
He added that Pineda’s “arrest and search warrant operation marked the culmination of a strategic investigation enacted by Phoenix special agents, Home Depot security personnel and Wells Fargo Bank.”
