Bad Check Prosecution
Question: When a bank is in a loss position and in process of working with law enforcement and the district attorney to set up restitution, do we lose our ability to prosecute if the branch takes a payment from the customer towards the loss? I really appreciate any help in this area as we have several situations like this.
Answer: Not only do you lose the ability to prosecute the case, but you also really, really tick off law enforcement. AND, in addition, if you accept ANY reimbursement after you've undertaken prosecution procedures, any payment you take can be considered payment in full. Not a spot you want to be in.
Every state has what amounts to "Worthless Check Statutes" that will spell out what you can and can't do. Almost uniformly they will tell you that you can take ten days to make arrangements with the alleged perpetrator to repay you. However, as long as reimbursement is being made, criminal charges cannot be filed. You can't have it both ways. To find your state's statutes, try the Google search engine. I typed in Bad Check Prosecution and found 146,000 sites. Your state's details may be among them to let you know what your options are.
Copyright © 2004 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 14, No. 1, 3/05
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