Philadelphia Passing Bad Checks Lawyer
With modern communication and types of payment, bad check charges are not seen as frequently as before. However, they can still cause significant headaches, since this type of charge can damage your reputation, and cause you years of problems.
You can be charged with passing bad checks if you write a check on a bank account that does not have funds, is closed, or is false. The penalty you face for any of these all depends on how many times you allegedly committed the crime and whether the checks were passed on your own closed or low fund account or another person’s account.
Bad Checks Defined and Examples
According to Pennsylvania law, a person can be charged with passing bad checks if he, 1) “issues or passes a check or similar sight order for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee; (2) A person commits an offense if he, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee, issues or passes a check or similar sight order for the payment of money when the drawee is located within this Commonwealth.”
Pursuant to the statute, you do not have to be in Pennsylvania to be charged in Pennsylvania, so long as the check, the person receiving it, or the bank, is in Pennsylvania. Therefore, it is possible to be charged with bad checks if you are sending a check for payment into Pennsylvania.
Just like every other Criminal Offense, knowledge is a factor, and the person passing the check must know the check will not be honored. It is common for police and prosecutors to charge someone with bad checks if a person uses a closed account to send a check. Unlike other criminal charges, police and prosecutors may give you time to pay the person you were supposed to pay with the check and delay charging you. This, however, may not be available to you if you are suspected of passing checks to accounts that are not in your name.
Diversionary Programs
Passing bad checks is an economic crime. As a result, in addition to the program for first time offenders (ARD), you can also qualify for a Section 586 disposition. This is a section of the Pennsylvania code that allows for many financial crimes to be dismissed, if the prosecutor determines that it is in the “public interest.” In order to qualify for a Section 586, full restitution of any money owed must be paid in order for the District Attorney’s office to consider you for this. Many 586 dispositions can be expunged and taken off your record once enough time passes from the time the case ends.
Passing Bad Checks Lawyer Philadelphia
Our Criminal Defense Attorneys have decades of experience handling bad check cases and can give you a thorough and fair assessment of your case during your free consultation. Please call us today.
This content was written on behalf of Greg Prosmushkin.