Deposit Account Fraud

What is deposit account fraud?

By far the most common consultation we do for any of the fraud related crimes is for Deposit Account Fraud. Deposit account fraud is when you (or more commonly someone who has asked you) present a check to the bank which you (or they) know is not going to be honored by the bank. Think of Deposit Account Fraud as something similar to those e-mail scams asking you to give them your account information for the promise of a large payout down the road. If it appears too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

What’s an example?

The most common example of deposit account fraud in Georgia we see is where someone comes up to you and asks you if you have an account at a specific bank and requests that you deposit this check for them and give them cash and they will let you keep the remaining balance for helping them out. This is almost always a scam. Check cashing places will cash valid checks for much less than twenty or thirty or whatever the percent is they are offering you for this process. This person knows the check will not be honored, but is trying to scam YOU and put all the risk on YOU when it comes to potential criminal activity.

What does the law say?

The Deposit Account Fraud statute says: A person commits the offense of deposit account fraud when such person makes, draws, utters, executes, or delivers an instrument for the payment of money on any bank or other depository in exchange for a present consideration or wages, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee. There are situations where even if you don’t know that it will not be honored by the bank that you can still be found guilty, like if you try to present the check to a bank where you don’t have an account or if you receive notice that check was not honored and you don’t pay the full amount of the check within thirty days.

How will I be prosecuted?

If the check or series of checks has a total value of under $1,500.00, your case will be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, but if the amount of the checks is $1,500.00 or more, your case will be prosecuted as a felony.

 

Our office deals with Deposit Account Fraud in Georgia cases on a daily basis. We are well-versed in the law and all applicable defenses to the charges. If you are being prosecuted or investigated for Deposit Account Fraud, please call our office today at 404-581-0999 for a free consultation.

by Ryan Walsh