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Fake $100 bills litter Korbut's residence

Olympic gold medalist Olga Korbut had nothing to do with thousands of dollars in counterfeit money found in her former home in Duluth and is innocent of pending shoplifting charges in Norcross, her manager, Kay Weatherford said.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the discovery of about $4,000 worth of counterfeit bills found Dec. 5 in a $240,000 house Korbut sold to ex-husband Leonid Bortkevich two years ago. A 6-foot oil painting of a pigtailed Korbut during the height of her career and other Olympic memorabilia were left inside the home, Gwinnett deputy sheriff Tracy Lee said.

The couple's son, Richard Bortkevich, 22, is believed to have been the last person living at the Master's Court home, according to Gwinnett Sheriff's reports.

Lee went to the home Dec. 5 to notify Leonid Bortkevich and "all others" that the mortgage company had begun foreclosure proceedings, sheriff's records show. That's when authorities discovered a "large amount" of counterfeit $100 bills inside the home.

About $4,000 in counterfeit bills were scattered on the floor of an upstairs office and stuffed in a plastic bag left near several computers, according to the reports.

The house was heavily damaged and appeared to be abandoned, Lee said.

Kitchen cabinets, crown molding, doors, light fixtures and switches had been removed and tossed on the floor, and a window had been knocked out, Lee said.

A pump had been ripped out of the swimming pool, and toilets had been dislodged, he said.

Neighbors told Lee they thought Korbut and Bortkevich had left the house weeks earlier. They believed the couple's son, Richard Bortkevich, 22, had remained in the home, the deputy said.

Weatherford also said Korbut is innocent of misdemeanor shoplifting charges that are headed to the Gwinnett Solicitor's office.

Korbut, 46, was arrested last week at a Publix in Norcross after she was seen shoving cheese, tea, figs, chocolate syrup and seasoning into her purse and leaving the store without paying for the items, according to the arrest warrant.

Korbut could not be reached for comment Tuesday on the counterfeit investigation.

, a native of the former Soviet republic of Belarus, gained fame as a 17-year-old gymnast, winning three gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

She won a fourth Olympic gold medal in Montreal in 1976.

Korbut moved to metro Atlanta in 1991 and has been coaching gymnastics in Dunwoody.

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2002