Counterfeiter cranked out cash in van, feds say

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, May 16, 2009 This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

-- A Mountain View man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he made counterfeit bills in an unusual location - the back of his 1996 Ford Aerostar van.

Paul Rickett's van was outfitted with a computer, a Canon printer and several reams of paper, which he used to make authentic-looking $10, $20 and $50 bills, the Secret Service said in an affidavit recently unsealed in U.S. District Court in San Jose.

The investigation began when Brian Matthew Garcia and girlfriend Angela Ceaser were arrested this year by Secret Service agents on suspicion of conspiracy for trying to mail counterfeit currency.

Garcia and Ceaser identified Rickett, 37, as the creator of the fake cash, Secret Service Special Agent Jeffrey Jones wrote in an affidavit.

On April 3, a Secret Service agent working undercover and calling himself "Bill" called Rickett to order counterfeit money.

Rickett agreed to meet Bill at the Potrero Shopping Center at 2300 16th St. in San Francisco. The meeting was secretly recorded with a device hidden in a keychain, investigators said.

Rickett proudly showed Bill how real his fake notes looked, including their "rainbow effect" and the American eagle symbols found on genuine $20 bills, Jones wrote. Rickett then gave Bill $1,940 in fake notes in exchange for $400 in real ones, authorities said.

Bill set up another deal for April 17 at the Embers bar on Auburn Boulevard in Sacramento, at which Rickett gave Bill $2,000 in counterfeit currency in exchange for $400, authorities said.

Rickett was arrested May 8 and was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in San Jose.