Check Fraud Impacts You!
The Check Fraud Division of the District Attorney's Office is responsible for investigating and prosecuting the offense of theft by check. John Boone, Chief of the Check Fraud Division, and Bernadette Hernandez-Haby visited with us this week to explain how their office assists individuals and businesses in recovering money from "bad checks."
Bad checks, also known as NSF checks, bounced checks, rubber checks, insufficient checks, bogus checks, etc., can be a big problem for an individual or for any size company. There are both civil and criminal penalties for this unlawful act, although it is much more costly and difficult to prove a criminal case. Always consider your goal and that of the Harris County District Attorney's Office: to recover the money or punish the check writer? Here is a little of what we learned.
Payments for COD or preexisting debt:
In most cases, NSF checks are not considered under the bad check law if they are used to pay an antecedent debt. Therefore, if a debtor gives a debtor an NSF check to pay a note payment or to pay an invoice that is on account, the act generally does not fall within the bad check law. However, if the debtor provides a creditor with a NSF check for a COD order, then that act does fall within the bad check laws.
Postdated Checks:
Section 3-104(2)(b) of the UCC, defines a check as "a draft drawn on a bank and payable on demand." A postdated check, since it is not payable on demand, does not satisfy this demand. Consequently, it has generally been held by most states that the giving of a post-dated check does not constitute a present fraud nor is it within the scope of the bad check laws.
Who is the guilty party?
The guilty party of a fraudulent check is usually the person who signed the check, but it could also be the person who fraudulently passed it on, or even a third party who endorsed and passed the check on to another.
For more information visit the District Attorney's area on the Harris County website. |
