Woman charged in counterfeiting scheme

Bond was set at $250,000 Friday for a 39-year-old Sugar Grove woman charged in a counterfeiting scheme that police say might involve others.

Shirley A. Ryckman, of the 1200 block of Dorr Drive, was arrested about 1 p.m. Thursday in an Aldi parking lot in Sugar Grove after police and Secret Service agents witnessed her hand an envelope containing fake money to another person, according to police.

Sugar Grove Det. John Sizer said Ryckman, charged with felony forgery, is the first of potentially several people he expects to be charged in a counterfeiting operation run out of her home.

"She was the one manufacturing it, but there's going to be more arrests," Sizer said.

The investigation began a few weeks ago when a local bank reported receiving counterfeit money. Later, additional reports trickled in as more bills were passed at local garage sales, stores and the village's annual Corn Boil last week.

Sizer said several festival vendors were able to identify the man who gave them the bills - leading investigators to Ryckman, who is accused of manufacturing the fake money using home computer equipment.

According to police, Ryckman printed entire batches of bills, mostly $20s, with a single serial number. The bills, however, did not have water marks nor security strips found in real cash.

"I was surprised at the quality. If I were having a garage sale and got this in change, I probably never would have noticed," Sizer said. "I don't know if she actually had a strategy in mind or not, but where she passed them - garage sales and local stores - was where people might not be looking for it."

One purported victim, Chris Hochsprung, said she received at least two counterfeit $20 bills last week in a garage sale at her home in Blackberry Township near Elburn.

Hochsprung said she didn't learn the bills were fake until she tried to deposit them at a bank.

"Looking at it, I wouldn't have been able to tell," she said. "You wouldn't think someone would go bargain shopping with counterfeit bills."

Hochsprung said she can't be sure who gave her the money, but recalled one woman who spent more than $80 on a box of jewelry and a pile of other items.

"She was on a mission to spend $100, that's for sure," Hochsprung said.

Forgery is a Class 3 felony with a standard sentencing range of two to five years in prison or probation. Sizer said the case could become a federal matter, depending on how many bills were produced.

Ryckman remained in the Kane County jail Friday evening, unable to post bond. Her next court date is Aug. 12 before Judge James C. Hallock.