Secret Service: Home Depot Worker Swapped $388K Cash with Fake Bills

Home Depot worker Adrian Jean Pineda was nabbed by the Secret Service in Tempe, Arizona for allegedly stealing $387,500 in cash by replacing the real money with movie prop bills he ordered on Amazon.

Security footage showed Pineda “taking fake bills from his personal wallet, mixing them into the register funds, and then pocketing the real money” on at least 16 occasions, According to the Secret Service report.

Pineda will appear in federal court in Phoenix for violation of 18 USC 472 – Uttering of Counterfeit U.S. Currency. As a vault associate with Home Depot, his job entailed getting cash register money ready for the bank. He was tasked with counting cash and securing it for transfer to Wells Fargo.

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“This case illustrates the continued commitment of the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigating and prosecuting counterfeit violations. Yesterday’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,” said U.S. Secret Service Phoenix Field Office Special Agent in Charge Frank Boudreaux Jr.

Secret Service agents seized $5,000 in counterfeit bills and recovered $5,000 in real cash during Pineda’s arrest at the store. A search of the suspect’s house kicked up $22,000 in real cash. The crime took place from January 2018 to January 2022, the federal agency said.

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He was just in a really good position to do the crime,” Boudreaux Jr. told The New York Times. “He bypassed the first layer of counterfeit detection — the cashier.”

The Secret Service was created in 1865 to enforce federal laws against counterfeiting.