Halifax Police have released the name of a man charged with passing counterfeit $50 bills in the city and say they are investigating the possibility the man may be linked to other counterfeiting incidents around Nova Scotia.

In the last week in Halifax there have been three cases where someone has passed counterfeit $50 bills and one case where a counterfeit $20 bill was passed.

Police said they arrested 31-year-old David Williams MacDonald of Dartmouth last Friday and charged him with three counts of uttering counterfeit money and three counts of breaching his conditions.

Const. Tammy Lobb told CBC News that RCMP in Chester, Oxford, New Minas and Windsor have also found fake $50s that resemble those found in Halifax.

Lobb said RCMP is investigating the possibility that MacDonald may have been involved in passing those bills as well.

She said in each case, someone went into a retail outlet like a corner store and made a small purchase with a large bill.

The bills are from the older "Scenes of Canada" series of banknotes printed between 1969 and 1979, which lack the security features found on more modern currency.

Police say the counterfeits don't have the same texture as real money and, in some cases, the dye runs when it's wet.

Police still don't know who made the bills, and they can't say whether MacDonald was working alone.