Police have arrested two people and seized "large amounts" of counterfeit currency from a north Phoenix hotel.
Court records show that on September 21, a police investigation led police to a hotel in north Phoenix where police say a man and a woman were manufacturing "large amounts" of fake money.
Police report that their investigation into the making of counterfeit money led them to a hotel near I-17 and Bell Road. In checking the hotel registry, they saw one room occupied by 19-year-old Lacey Rose Bender and 34-year-old Levi Benjamin Hockersmith who were both on probation for crimes out of Yavapai County.
Police conducted a traffic stop and search where they found counterfeit money and a backpack, "which contained papers with uncut images of twenty dollar bills."
In the hotel room police reportedly found a copier, ink cartridges, cutting tools, paper and "large amounts of counterfeit money in different stages of manufacture."
Police say they were using these bills to purchase merchandise and the returning the products.
Both Bender and Hockersmith have been charged with forgery.
