She should have known better.
A Bloomingdale’s security boss whose job was training workers to spot counterfeit money was arrested after she allegedly tried to pass bogus bills at the flagship Midtown store, sources said yesterday.
Funny-money expert Alice Butler was nabbed by one of the Bloomie’s employees she personally trained, after she presented a pair of fake $100 bills while loading cash onto her employee debit card on July 1, law-enforcement sources said.
Butler’s talents as a teacher apparently came back to bite her because her former student quickly noticed the images on the bills were blurry and the ink wasn’t the right color, sources said.
The married, 56-year-old New Jersey resident had worked at the store for 17 years when she allegedly laid down the bogus Benjamins at the department store at Third Avenue and 59th Street, sources said.
The cashier promptly called for security officers — who awkwardly had to question their supervisor, the sources said.
Butler tried to weasel her way out of trouble by saying, “I know fake money, and why would I link it to myself by making a payment to my own account?” according to a criminal-court complaint.
NYPD detectives were summoned and hauled Butler away in handcuffs.
“They perp-walked her through the store — brought her down the escalators — so all the employees would see her, and took her out though the front door,” said one source.
“She was trying to put her head down, but she’s a big woman with dreadlocks so she’s hard to miss,” the source added.
The bizarre incident was captured on video surveillance, court papers state.
A Secret Service agent was also called in to confirm that the bills were counterfeit, sources said.
Butler was released without bail on charges of forgery and petit larceny.
“Right now I’m in discussions with the District Attorney’s Office for a favorable disposition in this matter,” said her lawyer, Mark Macron. “It would be a sort of nonfelony, nonjail plea deal.”
Bloomingdale’s declined to comment.