#forged checks

[spacegirlspiffy]

A fun thing I learned today: If someone steals your checks and writes fraudulent checks, closing your account and opening a new one is not sufficient. The bank will still process any forged checks and take the money from your new account.

You need to ask specifically for a stop payment on checks from your old account, for a fee of course. The fee sucks but it's better than being blindsided by another forged check.

[movieassholes]

Dear Dad, you always told me that an honest man has nothing to fear, so I'm trying my best not to be afraid.  

Frank Abagnale Jr. - Catch Me If You Can (2002)

[citizensjournalsposts]

New Post has been published on Citizensjournal.us

New Post has been published on http://citizensjournal.us/ventura-pd-arrest-pair-after-brief-chase-for-stolen-vehicle-ammo-explosives-and-forged-checks/

Ventura PD arrest pair after brief chase for stolen vehicle, ammo, explosives and forged checks

On Tuesday morning, May 12th at 6:51am, the Ventura Police Command Center received a call reference a suspicious occupied vehicle parked on Thille Street, East of Holmes Ave. Officers arrived on scene and contacted the two occupants of the vehicle. While speaking with the occupants of the vehicle, the driver, 23 year old Kelly Smith, accelerated, nearly striking one of the officers on scene. Kelly continued in a northwest direction driving over the center median, striking a parked vehicle and Edison light pole, where the vehicle came to rest. Kelly was taken into custody at the scene along with the passenger, 26 year old Michael Leake.  Both are Ventura residents.

Further investigation revealed the vehicle in question was a stolen vehicle that had been outfitted with an unreported stolen license plate. A search of the vehicle revealed several guns, several thousand rounds of ammunition, explosives, drugs, drug paraphernalia and forged checks.

The Ventura Police department Streets Crime Unit and Ventura county bomb squad responded to assist in the investigation. The subjects in question were later booked at VCJ on numerous felony charges. No officers where injured during this incident.

Ventura Police Department

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[tasod]

Woman reportedly stole, forged checks

A Jonesborough woman was arrested Saturday following a three-month investigation into a report of forged checks, according to a JCPD news release. According to the release, officers received the report on May 3, when a man said that his ex-wife, Mary Elizabeth Street, 27, 130 CM Chase Road, had taken two checks from his checkbook.  The man said Street had forged and passed the checks on two separate occasions at Andrew Johnson Bank, 3300 Browns Mill Road. According to the release, bank surveillance video showed Street passing the checks and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Street was charged with two counts of forgery under $500 and two counts of theft of property under $500. She was taken to the Washington County Detention Center, where she was held on $4,000 bond. Woman reportedly stole, forged checks

[studyforthebar]

Forged Checks

Drawee (bank) MUST credit account of person whose signature was forged

[lawyernews-blog]

Minnesota Man Charged with Bank Fraud

Ronald Schaeffer of Faribault, Minnesota has been charged with bank fraud for allegedly writing 127 false checks to himself.

According to court documents, Schaeffer, 39, was hired by Environmental Tillage Systems Inc. (ETS), as its sole in-house accountant. His responsibility was to use QuickBooks accounting software to record information regarding payments owed by ETS to vendors and employees.

Schaeffer purportedly created false entries in ETS’s QuickBooks accounting records that made it appear as if ETS had written the forged checks to legitimate ETS vendors.

Although Schaeffer had the authority to use a signature stamp to validate the checks for a period of time, he was required to obtain the signature of ETS’s CEO or CFO on all ETS checks before releasing the checks to payees.

In a bold move, Schaeffer began forging the required signatures on those checks he wrote to himself.

Court records show that through this scheme, Schaeffer fraudulently obtained a total of $432,504.10 from ETS. Schaeffer purportedly used this money to build a lake house in Elysian, Minnesota, and to make payments on home equity or auto loans.

If convicted, Schaeffer faces a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, as well as possible fines and forfeitures.

[safdiepllc]

Protecting Your Business from Forged Checks

I recently had the unfortunate experience of advising a small business client whose employee had been forging checks for a number of months for a total dollar amount in excess of $100,000.  Below are some lessons learned from the experience:

1. Check your bank statements promptly and regularly.  A bank may be required to reimburse a business for amounts lost due to a forged check--but only within certain limitations.  In New York, a bank will only be obligated for such reimbursement if the account owner notified the bank of the forgery within 30 days following the mailing of the first statement reflecting the forgery.  The 30-day period can be shortened, depending on your bank's agreement and jurisdiction.  

If there was a string of forgeries by the same person, for purposes of determining whether a bank is required to reimburse, it will look to the date of the first forgery.  Therefore, in the current scenario where the string of forgeries was initiated more than twelve months ago, the bank was under no obligation to make my client whole.

An account owner has an affirmative duty to exercise ordinary care in managing the account, a duty that includes regularly and promptly reviewing bank statements.  An account owner neglecting this duty cannot after the passing of time claim reimbursement benefits.  

2. Perform a background check.  While somewhat distasteful, this could be an effective preventive measure.  Additionally, in at least one situation, a bank refused to reimburse an account owner who had not performed a background check on an employee who forged checks.  In that scenario, the forger had prior convictions for exactly this type of embezzlement.  Under the bank's theory, the account owner did not exercise ordinary care, and therefore denied the claim.  

In the current situation, the employee had been arrested in a similar scam.    

3. Review your insurance policy.  Many business insurance policies include coverage for forged checks.  Thankfully, my client's policy contained such coverage.  The policy covered a significant portion of the loss, but, unfortunately, it was nowhere near the full amount.  

4. Report the crime.  The only way your business will be reimbursed from either the bank or the insurer is to present them with a police report.