From the Silly News Desk

Some news from Stuart Florida. Passing obvious funny money at your place of work doesn't come under the heading of smart career moves.

Linked to- Dumb Ox, Morewhat, Outside the Beltway,

STUART — The edges of the counterfeit $100 bill were a little wide, so Malbin Caraballo borrowed a pair of scissors from the cashier Saturday at the car wash where he worked, returning them a few minutes later after performing the trim in his car.

Then he asked the same cashier to change the fake bill for five $20s, according to Martin County sheriff's records.

Distracted by a phone call and knowing Caraballo was an employee, the clerk said she made the exchange without checking the bill, but the boss checked it later and called the Martin County Sheriff's Office to report the bogus $100.

Video surveillance backed up the cashier's story and Caraballo was called in for questioning.

Caraballo tearfully admitted passing the bill, saying he needed the money to make a rent payment on his television set, and said his stepson actually printed the fake bill on his home computer.

Passing the poor quality bill at work was "stupid," Caraballo, 26, acknowledged to detectives.

A search was then conducted at stepson Ricky Herrick's home and sheriff's investigators and a U.S. Secret Service agent said they found more phoney $100s on sheets of paper along with some fake $10 bills. The agent seized about $850.

Herrick, 18, told investigators he had been printing the counterfeits for about three months and wanted to help his stepfather with his bills.

Caraballo was released from the Martin County jail on $2,500 bond on a charge of uttering a forged instrument. Herrick was held without bail on a federal counterfeiting charge.