Check Fraud, What now?

[JohnGalt]

I deposited checks from my neighbor into my checking account in order for him to allegedly pay for his immigration attorney. It turns out that they were altered, and thus fradulent. The bank cauught one before it was deposited into my account, but one had already been deposited and I already withdrew the money, about two grand and gave it to my neighbor. The bank considers me liable since I made the deposits and is closing my account, the check that got deposited hasn't been returned yet. Once it is, my account will be overdrawn and I will be in debt. I do not know what to do. Can law enforcement help get my moneyback. I am concerned that involving the law will result in my neighbor getting into legal trouble, which will only make it harder for me to recover the money I now must repay the bank. What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else as will as to rectify my own situation, I have talked to the bank and as far as they are concerned I am the culpable party because I made the deposits, and any further action must be taken on my own.

[txinvestigator1]

What kind of help do you expect? If you do not want to pursue the legal avenues available to you then you are simply SOL.

The guy committed a crime, did not mind screwing you over, but you are afraid he will get in trouble? So go back in the corner and wait for someone else to come along and kick you.

When I accept a personal check for servides I verify with the check makers bank the validity of the check as well as sufficient funds.

You need to file criminal charges. It is likely the bank will not make you eat the money once fraud (on HIS part) is established.

[JohnGalt]

I'm not concerned about getting him into trouble just about my ability to get out of debt to the bank. My question was about what happens if I pursue legal action. My nightmare scenario is this guy sits in jail while the bank sends me to a collection agency and my credit gets shot. I feel like you didn't understand what I was asking in my first post, I aplogize if I was vague. I am 100% willing to go the distance legally on this, but right now my priority is getting myself out of debt to the bank.

From the above post it sounds like criminal charges are the best way to bring this about. My concern is that this guy guys down for a criminal charge, I still owe the bank money I don't have, and am stuck in debt while he is in Jail. Is this for sure a criminal matter maybe it should be civil?

[Nole795]

Your neighbor giving you an altered/forged check to deposit is a fraud. Thus it is a criminal matter. Most banks won't even hear your case unless you have a police report number to give them when requesting your money back. You need to report the issue to the police and pursue a criminal charge on your neighbor. Usually the DA office will make him pay retribution; you may get all, some, or none back. It depends on the district, so there is no set answer. Another thing is once he is arrested, and/or convicted, you can take him to small claims court to get whatever funds is owed.

[samseed101]

Why would you even consider doing this? Let me guess.. you were allowed to keep a small fee for your services right? He agreed to give you a small % if you cashed the check for him? And he gave some piss poor excuse why he couldnt cash it himself, or go to any one of the agencies that specialize in cashing checks for a fee?

Is this really a neighbor, or did you really just fall for an old email / telephone / ebay scam?

[Ranger__101]

I hate to say it, Your on the hook for the money since you cashed the check and did not wait for it to completly clear before disbursing the funds to your neighbor.

There is nothing that LE can do to help you on the fact your out the $2000.00. You can file charges against your neighbor and try to get a civil judgement for the money, but I will suspect it's all gone and he doesn't have the money or the property to compensate your for your loss.

Best bet 1st off is to contact your Local LE agency aobut the check fraud so they can start the paperwork, contact your neighbor and demand the money back (if they've got any of it left) and since you are talking $2000.00, I would recommend going to small claims court to see about a juddgement against him also.


Sorry to say, You've been taken and more then likely you're going to be out the total amount of money.

[JohnGalt]

Okay thank you for your various responses, As for samseed101, no this really is my neighbor and someone I was previously friends with which was why I was less sceptical then I usually am. This was not like the "friend" with the problem in sex ed class.

[JohnGalt]

Also I most definately did not keep a fee.

[scott715us]

What kind of help do you expect? If you do not want to pursue the legal avenues available to you then you are simply SOL.

The guy committed a crime, did not mind screwing you over, but you are afraid he will get in trouble? So go back in the corner and wait for someone else to come along and kick you.

When I accept a personal check for servides I verify with the check makers bank the validity of the check as well as sufficient funds.

You need to file criminal charges. It is likely the bank will not make you eat the money once fraud (on HIS part) is established.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Seand442]

Civil court is probably your only option at this point. Sorry for being blunt, but the whole plan sounds incredibly dumb in my opinion. Why do you need to deposit your neighbors bad checks into your checking account to pay for his attorney fees? Why not him cash them himself? Why not him use his own checking account?
Curious, were these checks he wrote or received via work, etc?

[JR_23]

Him asking you to cash a check for him should have made you raise your eyebrows...

[Toeknee112]

"Flounder, you can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f****d up -- you trusted us! Hey, make the best of it!"
Eric 'Otter' Stratton - Animal House