Major League Baseball player arrested on counterfeiting charges

Former Major League Baseball player Julio Mateo -- who is currently playing in the minor leagues -- was arrested on suspicion of forgery last weekend after police found counterfeit $100 bills in his hotel room.

Of course everyone is innocent until proven guilty but The Associated Press found this gem in the police report: "Before officers informed him of why we were there, Julio stated that he did not know anything about fake money,"

Aha! A clue worthy of a particularly obvious episode of Murder, She Wrote, and also a good tip for any would-be criminals out there who are reading WalletPOP: don't deny that you've committed a certain crime before you've been accused of it.

But maybe we're being too hard on Mr. Mateo. I mean, with the federal government planning to spend $482 billion more than it has in 2009, is paying a cab fare with fake greenbacks really that big of a deal? Just saying. . .