“Fraudulent Checks”
A wife called us regarding her husband who was in jail for writing bad checks. His bail was set at $50,000. She called us with her husband on the line from jail. He didn’t have the cash to pay my fee but he explained that he had a check he needed to pick up from State Farm Insurance for a recent insurance settlement. The amount was $5,048.32, so he said he would sign the check over to me to cover my $5,000 fee. He and his wife did not own their home but they both had good jobs, so I felt that this was a good risk. The wife cosigned and I posted the bond.
The next day I met with the husband – the defendant. He gave me a check from State Farm in the amount he had promised. I deposited the check in my bank account and figured everything was okay.
A week passed, and he was back in jail for writing bad checks. The wife called, and I decided once again to post bond for him. Since the first check had cleared and he had another check coming in from State Farm, he was able to cover my fee again. He explained that his insurance settlement hadn’t been paid in full and he was being paid in increments. After bailing him out, I met him the next day and he signed over the State Farm check. I deposited the check for $3,000 and went about our business.
After another week passed, I did a routine online check of my bank account and noticed a withdrawal for $8,048.32. The amount equaled the combined total of the two checks he had written us, but I was puzzled. I knew there was no way State Farm would bounce checks. So I called the bank to ask why the checks were returned. The bank informed me the two checks were fraudulent and were not issued by State Farm Insurance. This floored me, since I had seen the checks myself and they looked completely genuine.
I called the defendant and his wife answered. As I expressed my concerns to her, she proceeded to tell me her husband was back in jail with a “no bail” hold. He could not be released on bail until he saw the judge this time. I informed her that she needed to pay me for the checks that bounced. She informed me they did not have the money nor did they have the jobs they claimed to have. Turned out these people were scam artists passing fraudulent checks all over the state. They were printing the checks from a printer in their garage.
As a victim, I decided to watch his criminal case to see what was going to happen. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay restitution to all the victims, including me. Over the ensuing years, here and there I have received random checks for $50 from the state restitution fund. I’ve never received the full amount and doubt that I ever will.
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