Sask. man finds US$4,200 in counterfeit bills in his mailbox

Checking your mail is usually a pretty mundane activity. However, one Regina man got quite the surprise when an envelope full of thousands of dollars of counterfeit U.S. currency appeared in his mailbox.

In early April, Jesse Wiebe discovered a brown envelope marked “return to sender” in his mailbox.

Opening the mystery package revealed 14 sheets of uncut American $50 bills. In total, the package contained $4,200.

“Because it was so close to April Fools, I was wondering if someone was like trying to play a prank on me but that would be a pretty edgy and risky prank,” Wiebe told CTV News.

Following the discovery, Wiebe bought a counterfeit detecting pen and picked up a genuine U.S bill to compare the mystery notes to.

“[They] ended up being counterfeit. I dropped it off with the police yesterday and even then they said they'd seen nothing like this,” he said.

“It was really interesting.”

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Wiebe said he has no idea why the address of his business, Wiebe’s Roofing Ltd., was used as the mailing address for the package and hopes the authorities will be able to figure why he was chosen.

However, he was sure to make one thing clear to officers when he handed the counterfeit cash over.

“When I dropped it off with them, I said, ‘Don't you guys dare check my browser history because now it looks like I've been I've been figuring out how to print counterfeit money because I've been looking into it so much,’” he chuckled.

According to Wiebe, the intended recipient of the package was located in New York’s Chinatown.

“I'm not sure what the business is. I looked it up on Google Maps, but it was it was all written in Chinese,” he explained.

Regina police told Wiebe that counterfeit bills would be sent to Canada’s Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau for investigation.

Wiebe reiterated that the quality of the forgery was alarmingly good. However, he was sure to highlight a fatal flaw in whatever plan ultimately led the cash to end up in his mailbox.

“It seems like a pretty intelligent thing, the way that they printed the money but not very intelligent in the way that they didn't have enough postage to get it to its destination,” he laughed.

Wiebe had a simple piece of advice to share for anyone else who may encounter this sort of bizarre experience.

“Don't try to spend it.”