It is a case that was dealt with deferentially, meaning the Sergeant - who is a highly regarded veteran of the department - had been getting what looked to be special treatment; he didn't have his home searched and he was not immediately arrested. Instead, police put the case under investigation. Today, though, with the news breaking that there is a mass amount of US counterfeit in circulation, the pressure came to a head and 38 year old Sergeant Sherwood Wade - the officer commanding for Special Branch in Belize City was charged for the possession of counterfeit notes.

He appeared in the #1 Magistrate's Court where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. With his attorney Simeon Sampson asking for the bail to be reasonable he was released on a bail of eight thousand dollars and his case was adjourned until August 17th.

Another man charged with possession of counterfeit was also taken before the court this afternoon. 35 year old David Sedassey, an unemployed of West Canal was charged with possession of 150 one hundred US dollar counterfeit notes. That's fifteen thousand US dollar sin funny money and no plea was taken because it will be treated as an indictable matter. He was released on bail of six thousand and his case was adjourned until July fourth.

When police went to search Sedassey's home yesterday afternoon, the money was found in two plastic bags in his pocket. We should note that the serial numbers on the bills allegedly found with Sedassey do not match those that Wade was trying to deposit.

As we noted, there are reports that there is a mass amount of US counterfeit currency in circulation on the Belize market right now. You can find a listing of all the suspect serial numbers detected so far at 7newsbelize.com.