Montana, USA -- A West African man who used counterfeit money in Cascade and Teton Counties is now in custody in Denver.
On March 16th, Godford Sumabe of Ghana arrived in Great Falls; the next day, he bought a service truck from Bouma Truck Sales in Choteau with more than $35,000 in cash and arranged for it to be delivered to Florida.
That night, he boarded a plane for Denver using $700 in counterfeit money; the ticket agent was suspicous about the money and contacted police.
Sumabe, who contacted Bouma about the truck prior to leaving Ghana, was arrested in Denver and faces state and federal charges.
Neal Bouma, owner of Bouma Truck Sales, explained that Sumabe was "...interested in a service truck we had because he was in the rental business in Ghana and he needed this truck for servicing his equipment."
Bouma continued, "My salesman talked to him for a short period of time and then he never heard from him again for about four or five days, and the next time we got a phone call, it was supposedly from U.S. Customs in New York City - they wanted an address for where this guy was headed."
Bouma says not all of the $35,000 was counterfeit; he's been told by police and the Secret Service that most of it was real, and he says the truck never left Choteau. He's not sure if the call he received from Customs was legitimate.
It's not known if Sumabe is connected with other recent counterfeit schemes in Great Falls and Helena.
