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Iowa Man Tries to Spend Fake Money Used in Movies, Police Say

Don't be fooled by this silly money.Clive, Iowa, Police Dept.

The funny money is actually currency used in the movie business.

Beware a $50 bill with a very grumpy-looking Ulysses S. Grant. 

Police in Clive, Iowa, have arrested a man for trying to use movie prop money as real cash at a convenience store.

The incident was caught on surveillance video. "He's buying stuff that totals about four dollars and change," Det. Maurio Coleman told InsideEdition.com Friday. "Then he tries to get the bill back when the clerk questions it and the clerk said uh-uh, you're not going to get it back."

The make-believe currency is clearly bogus. The image of Grant shows him scowling with knitted eyebrows, and "Motion Picture Use Only" appears in big capital letters.

But the props are sold online and Coleman says it's important to get the word out that people are trying to pass it off.

Coleman said the man was a regular customer at the Git-N-Go, and he was later arrested and charged with one felony count of forgery.

Brandon Liesener, 33, was released on his own recognizance and his first court date is scheduled for next week, Coleman said. 

"He claimed he didn't know it was fake," Coleman said. "His defense was somebody gave it to him and he didn't know. So it was like, OK, do we read much?"

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