Counterfeit Checks Marked As "Unable to Find"

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Question:

We have a customer that is a check cashing business. He recently had several counterfeit checks pass through his business marked as Unable to Find. He tried to file a police report, but the police would not do anything without an affidavit of forgery. The customer is asking us for the affidavit, but the checks were not drawn on us. They have tried to contact the customer whose name is listed on the checks to no avail. They appear to be legitimate checks printed by Harland Clarke, they do not look like home-printed checks. What can be done to help this customer get some sort of affidavit to assist him with filing charges?

Answer:

Your bank or its customer can contact the bank on which the checks purport to have been drawn in an attempt to gain some information. It's likely that your bank would have a better chance at success in that effort. But the bottom line is that, assuming the return of those checks was timely, you had no option but to charge them back against your depositor's account. Legally, this is a matter between the check-cashing business and whoever defrauded it. Although you may feel the bank should try to assist, there is no legal obligation to do so.