Counterfeit Corner: Underwear Money and a Financial Black Hole

The Hempstead County Sheriff’s Department in the US state of Arkansas recently proved that truth is stranger than fiction – especially when it involves undergarments and fake cash. What started as a standard police bust quickly spiralled into an embarrassing financial facepalm, leaving the department needing a swift emergency budget bailout after accidentally treating counterfeit money like a legitimate bank deposit.

The bizarre saga began when deputies arrested a Texas woman on felony charges. During the routine booking search at the county jail, officers discovered a hefty stash of cash, $13,001, hidden inside the suspect’s undergarment. While hiding a giant wad of bills in your underwear is usually a dead giveaway that something is fishy, the department missed a much bigger clue: the money itself wasn’t even real.