The great colonial statesman and inventor is not only revered by his countrymen - - he's also a big favorite of counterfeiters, who churn out millions of dollars of phony hundreds each year. Some are crude, obvious fakes turned out in shadowy basement hideouts by lone-wolf operators using ancient, battered equipment. Others are high-quality reproductions, nearly identical to the real thing, mass-produced by sophisticated gangs using state-of-the-art equipment, like high-resolution computerized scanners and color copiers that can duplicate virtually the same shades of green, gray and black as appear on genuine money.

In an effort to get ahead of the technology curve, the government earlier this year announced a radical change in the design of the hundred - the first in decades. Some people have said the new C-note looks a lot like a Toys 'R' Us gift certificate, only instead of Goeffrey Giraffe's picture in the circle, it's still Ben Franklin (his picture is much, much bigger, though). The most important new feature, though, is not the portrait you can easily see but the one you can see only when you hold it up to the ligh t- a watermark picture of Big Ben imbedded in the bill, designed to foil the funny-money artists.

Even so, millions of dollars in the older bills are still in circulation and will remain so for some time, giving the fakers ample time to ply their trade - but probably not three men who were arrested in Boro Park on May1, thanks to some heads-up work by the Shomrim Patrol.

Coordinator Moishe Jeremias says a Shomrim unit was cruising 13th around midday, looking for pickpockets. One of the patrol men spotted three men getting out of a car and starting to walk down the street together.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this trio just didn't seem right. They seemed furtive, as though they were about to do something they didn't wish to be caught at - like maybe bang into someone and send them sprawling to create a diversion, during which one of them would deftly pick the pocket of the "mark" and anybody else who stopped to watch what was going on. There had been a number of such cases recently, with new pickpocket gangs always seeming to come in to take up the slack when the old ones were put out of business.

The Shomrim watched the three men walk into a store - and then quickly walk back out again, get back into their car, and drive to the next block.There, it was the same deal - out of the car, walk into a store together, walk back out maybe a minute or two later, each time carrying a small paperbag package, get back in the car and then drive to the next block and do the same thing again. The patrol men asked one another what kind of game were these three playing. Was it shoplifting? Maybe a drug dropoff? Pickpocketing someone in each store and then splitting? It just didn't add up.

After the men came out of the third store, the Shomrim men went in and asked the storekeeper what had transpired. "They came in, selected several small items, and paid for them with this," he said, handing them a $100 bill - old-style, but fresh and crisp. The Shomrim man who took it from the merchant was certainly no currency expert, but it seemed even to him that while it was a new bill, the hundred seemed greasy to the touch, and the picture of Franklin in the center seemed a little fuzzy. It dawned upon him that this bill was probably counterfeit. He asked the storekeeper what the total tab the three men rang up came to, and the man said "about $5 worth of stuff and then I gave them change."

Now the scam seemed crystal clear, even if Ben Franklin's portrait on the bill wasn't. The three men would go into a store, make a small purchase, pass a phony hundred for payment and walk out with $95 or so in real money. Do that in store after store, and their take could easily mount up into the hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in genuine cash, with local merchants left holding bills worth about as much as Monopoly money.

There wasn't any time to lose. The Shomrim men returned to their car and radioed to base, advising them that they were on the trail of three suspected counterfeiters on 13th Avenue. They asked for back-up, and requested that one of the units check with the other two stores to see whether, indeed, the three men had pulled the same trick on them as well.

Climbing back in their car, they looked down the busy avenue and caught sight of the counterfeiters' car as it turned down a side street. The other units radioed that they were approaching that location, and would be able to intercept them momentarily. At 60th Street and 11th Avenue, the other Shomrim units converged and blocked off the suspects' car.

The three men feigned surprise. When told why they had been stopped, they pretended not to understand, repeating "no habla Ingles (I don'tspeak English)" over and over. The Shomrim said the men were taken to the 66th Precinct, where police found another $700 in crisp new bills in their possession. The police contacted the U.S. Secret Service, the federal agency which safeguards the nation's currency, and read off the serial numbers of the seized bills to them.

Within a short time, the Secret Service called the police back and informed them they had checked with the government's Bureau of Printing and Engraving and confirmed that the serial numbers were fakes - meaning the bills themselves weren't worth the paper they were printed on. Upon further investigation, the proprietors of each of the stores the Shomrim had seen the men go into told the same story - the men had come in, bought a small amount of merchandise and paid for it with the phony hundreds. That night, a team of Secret Service agents came down to Boro Park from Manhattan to confer with detectives, inspect the phony Franklins and question the jailed men. One city detective was heard to observe "this kind of thing just doesn't happen every day in Boro Park."

ANTI-COUNTERFEITING TIPS

Authorities and security experts have several suggestions for local storekeepers - or anyone else - who doesn't want to fall victim to the funny-money flim-flammers.

Be very wary if someone comes in - especially if you don't know him - and attempts to pay for a small purchase with a very large bill, such as a $50 or $100. This is a counterfeiter's common method of "laundering" his worthless bills into a nearly equivalent amount of genuine cash.

Make it a policy to only accept small-denomination bills - $1, $5,$10 and $20. Counterfeiters are far less likely to make these because their profit margin on them is so much less than with the bigger bills. Prominently post a sign outlining your policy near the register so there can be no misunderstanding - and stick to your policy, even if a "customer" objects. If you do happen to get stuck with a counterfeit bill anyway, it's better to be out only $10 or $20 than $50 or $100.

There are electronic devices on the market in several price ranges which are advertised as being able to detect counterfeit currency. If the machine rejects a bill, hang onto it (see final tip below) and call the authorities. (Special Agent Steve Carey of the Secret Service cautions, however, that his agency does not endorse the use of such devices).

Know your money. The Secret Service offers free publications outlining ways of telling real money from counterfeit (the portraits on fake bills are not as life-like, the numbers, seals, scrollwork and other intricate details are not as sharp, the paper may feel greasy, and the fake bills won't contain the tiny red and blue silk threads found on genuine money).

Know also whose picture is on the front of what denomination and what building is on the back. Counterfeiters have been known to sometimes alter small denominations to make them look like bigger bills, and successfully pass such fakes because a merchant isn't paying attention to what he's putting into the cash register.

If you have reason to suspect someone might be passing a phony bill, make a note of the person's description, the license number of his car, etc. Immediately contact the Shomrim (or other local community security patrol), the police or the Secret Service. The Secret Service has a 24-hour-a-day counterfeit hotline at (212) 637-4500.

EPILOGUE

Police initially charged the three Boro Park suspects with criminal possession of forged instruments, a misdemeanor, and the money was held as evidence. The Kings County District Attorney's office said one of the three, Juan Morales, 20, later pled guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, and was sentenced to four days of community service. Further investigation disclosed that while the other two men were present with Morales, they had not acted in concert with him, and charges against them were dropped. As of press time, a Secret Service spokesman said no federal charges had been filed in the case.