BROOKLYN — A toll collector stole more than $24,000 in cash tolls over the course of a single month by replacing the money with counterfeit bills, prosecutors charged Wednesday.
Jonathan Germain, 22, of East Flatbush, brought a brown paper bag of counterfeit cash to his job at the Brooklyn side of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, formerly known as Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, and subbing the bogus bills out for real cash over the course of 10 shifts between May 23 and June 13, according to the Kings County District Attorney.
Prosecutors said they have surveillance video of Germain taking fake bills from a brown bag and swapping them for more than $3,000.
After Germain turned in his deposit bag, a Bridges and Tunnels contractor discovered the counterfeit bills while counting the collected tolls, prosecutors said.
Because the deposit bags are marked with individual barcodes, the phony bills were easily traced back to Germain, according to the DA.
Germain is charged with 10 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument and one count of grand larceny. He faces five to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to prosecutors.
