What to Do if You're an Inadvertent Participant in Check Fraud

My question involves criminal law for the state of: new york

I received two fraudulent checks that I cashed in a check cashing store.
I thought it was part of a work at home type of job with cashing foreign checks and wiring the money through western union.
I used my "commison" to pay for a plane ticket to visit my family in canada before family in new york received word that the checks were not authentic.

My question is how do I legally fight the charge because I did not know that the checks were fake.
They are saying that regardless I must return the full cashed amount, but I have no money.
Do I have to pay back the money? If so, can I pay the money monthly?
furthermore, I cannot return to the US yet for financial purposes. In this process will I ever have to present myself in court or can I proceed through correspondence.

Obviously I am willing to cooperate and be flexible, but there are real limits to what I am capable of.

Thank you for your assistance!!!

You must pay back the money. You can be charged criminally, if you do not show up for the criminal charges a warrant will be issued for your arrest. If you do not show up for civil charges a judgment will be issued against you.

Western Union? This is known as probably the biggest scam in the world, ever. The court just isn't going to believe that you didn't know.

Now, are you a US citizen or are you Canadian?

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I thought it was part of a work at home type of job with cashing foreign checks and wiring the money through western union.

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so, what work did you do to earn your commission?

What you describe is such a common scam I didn't think anybody wasn't aware of it.

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My question is how do I legally fight the charge because I did not know that the checks were fake.

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so, out of the blue, somebody sent you a couple checks and said; cash these and wire us the money and you get to keep $XXX.xx. Why you were chosen out of 300 million plus people in the US they chose you to do this for them?

what there made you think it was a legitimate job?

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Do I have to pay back the money?

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No, you get to keep all the illegally gotten money...


of course you have to pay it back. Geesh.

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In this process will I ever have to present myself in court or can I proceed through correspondence.

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They REALLY like you to be there.

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Obviously I am willing to cooperate and be flexible, but there are real limits to what I am capable of.

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Obviously you do not understand how this works. You don't have a choice in what is demanded of you. Are you capable of setting your butt in jail? Great because that is all that may be asked of you.


Since you are so impoverished, when you are arrested, plead not guilty at your arraignment and ask for a public defender. Otherwise do not say anything to the police or anybody else.

But if I have no means to buy a plane ticket to return for a court appearance would the consulate help arrange one for me?
It doesnt seem fair for the government to say someone is obligated to appear at court but will be imprisoned if he really cant get there..

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A U.S. citizen

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I didnt receive the checks out of the blue. I saw the description on craigslist.
As for paying the money back I obviously would do it if the law clearly states the casher is responsible always for fraudulent checks and not the issuer. I obviously should have put it in my account but I didnt want to overcharge in case it bounced.
My concern is that no, I dont have the money and yes, I need some sort of monthly payment plan. There is no way I could pay it back on full.
I am with my two kids and fiance and am looking for a job to support them. They are the reason I returned to Canadam

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I obviously should have put it in my account but I didnt want to overcharge in case it bounced.

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so you obviously thought the scam was not quite what it promised to be. You would rather somebody else take the risk it was what you feared it to be. Sorry but that shows you were aware it was likely a scam and you specifically took precautions to protect your own finances. That makes you look really really guilty.

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Quoting RaymondMichael

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But if I have no means to buy a plane ticket to return for a court appearance would the consulate help arrange one for me?
It doesnt seem fair for the government to say someone is obligated to appear at court but will be imprisoned if he really cant get there..

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The consulate may help, yes. Fair? It's your responsibility to deal with your issues - not the government.

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A U.S. citizen

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I didnt receive the checks out of the blue. I saw the description on craigslist.

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Craigslist - that didn't tip you off? Did you call? Did you verify?

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As for paying the money back I obviously would do it if the law clearly states the casher is responsible always for fraudulent checks and not the issuer. I obviously should have put it in my account but I didnt want to overcharge in case it bounced.
My concern is that no, I dont have the money and yes, I need some sort of monthly payment plan. There is no way I could pay it back on full.
I am with my two kids and fiance and am looking for a job to support them. They are the reason I returned to Canadam

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All you can do is offer a payment plan. Expect to be refused.

Expect for the court to disbelieve you.

I get your point but I was referring to waiting for it to clear vs getting the money as fast as possible. I returned to the u.s. for a back surgery and was here for three months, but really needed to get back to my family again in canada. Having lived in another country myself I knew international checks have a way of taking the max of 5 business days to clear or up to 10. I didnt want to wait.
Are you saying that in your eyes cashing it makes me look guilty? I mean versus depositong it? I have a family to support and back in risky conditions to be putting myself out there like that.
If I am responsible for the money I will pay it back, but not all at once, and I will cooperate, but I will not abandon my family for a second time to settle legal issues that I know can be resolved with correspondence and legal representatives.

Or is none of that the case??? Anything is possible in the USA, isnt it?

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RaymondMichael;811150]I get your point but I was referring to waiting for it to clear vs getting the money as fast as possible

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.but that isn't what you said.

I

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obviously should have put it in my account but I didnt want to overcharge in case it bounced.

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Are you saying that in your eyes cashing it makes me look guilty? I mean versus depositong it?

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if you had a bank account, most definitely. It why else would you not deposit it? Your argument of you might have to wait won't win over any doubters.

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but I will not abandon my family for a second time to settle legal issues that I know can be resolved with correspondence and legal representatives.

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sorry but if this is a criminal matter, and since you posted it in the criminal matters topic I presume it is, you will have to appear in person if for nothing else, the arraignment. Your lawyer cannot stand in for you.

On top of that, they will want to take some nice pictures of you and let you do a little finger painting.

I checked it out. It was a gmbh in germany. I didnt find an official website but did find some company profiles. From what I understand these types of companies arent publically traded. Also I believed it to be an entrepreneurial type company that started ul and was looking to sell.... I didnt think anything of it because businesses these days have so few limits to how they can look, especially webbased companies...
In any case I dont see how a country that prides itslf on so many publically marketed ideals could choose to reject an honest mans offer to pay the money in parts and prefer to put him in jail for 3 months... in those 3 months I would have enough time to pay . Ot back I believe.
What would that say about the credibility of the U.S.?
And to think I wanted to bring my family with me to the U.S....

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Thanks jk

The credibility of the US? You ARE kidding, aren't you?

You get screwed over, screw the bank in return, and it's somehow the US's fault?!

It's the US's fault that you didn't practice due diligence? It's the US's fault that you didn't cotton on to what is perhaps the most widely known scam EVER?

Huh.

Well I was in Canada for 7 years and never heard of it there.
And it is the governments duty to ensure equal justice.
But this isnt a political blog, its a legal advice forum.
Thank you for your point of view dogmatique

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Quoting RaymondMichael

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I checked it out. It was a gmbh in germany. I didnt find an official website but did find some company profiles. From what I understand these types of companies arent publically traded. Also I believed it to be an e

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so what reputable company is going to send you checks to cash for them and wire the money back to them and pay you to do it? Why don't they just deposit into their bank?

that is one reason I never understood how people fall for such scams. They don't make any sense at all yet people keep falling for the same scam.



as far as paying it back; you can only pay it back as fast as you can. If that isn;t fast enough for the courts, they might decide sitting in jail might make you reconsider your priorities because you aren't earning anything to support your family while in jail.

I would suspect a few months to pay is not going to be an issue. It is something you would have to work out with the court.

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Quoting RaymondMichael

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Well I was in Canada for 7 years and never heard of it there.
And it is the governments duty to ensure equal justice.
But this isnt a political blog, its a legal advice forum.
Thank you for your point of view dogmatique

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For what it's worth, I'm not American ;)

But you raised the issue, so let me just say this.

No, it's not the government's job to ensure equal justice. "right" justice? Yes. But fair or equal? Not at all. There is always going to be an unhappy party in any court case - the only issue here, is that it's you and not the bank.

I'm fairly certain the bank shares your feeling.

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Quoting RaymondMichael

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I checked it out. It was a gmbh in germany. I didnt find an official website but did find some company profiles. From what I understand these types of companies arent publically traded. Also I believed it to be an entrepreneurial type company that started ul and was looking to sell.... I didnt think anything of it because businesses these days have so few limits to how they can look, especially webbased companies...
In any case I dont see how a country that prides itslf on so many publically marketed ideals could choose to reject an honest mans offer to pay the money in parts and prefer to put him in jail for 3 months... in those 3 months I would have enough time to pay . Ot back I believe.
What would that say about the credibility of the U.S.?
And to think I wanted to bring my family with me to the U.S....

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Thanks jk

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This has nothing to do with the country.

Since you were obviously scammed by a con game that nobody in their right mind should be scammed by these days, I'll try to use simple language so that you understand what's happening to you.

All the people at the bank care about is that you cashed the checks and walked out of the bank with the money and then the checks that YOU cashed turned out to be bogus.

Do you understand the reason I emphasized YOU?

I hope so.

Now you owe the bank the money. Period. Nobody else, just you.

At the moment, the bank wants its money and is not interested in putting you in jail yet if it gets the money.

But if you don't pay, the bank has the option of reporting you to the authorities who will issue a warrant for your arrest and you'll be picked up as soon as you re-enter the US, whenever that will be.

Now here's something else you need to understand.

Being willing to pay is not paying.

Talking about paying is not paying.

Paying is paying. So I suggest you scrape up some cash as best you can, even if it's not the full amount, and send the money ASAP with a letter saying that you'll pay the balance. You don't have to return to the US to do that and as long as you keep sending money frequently, you'll probably avoid criminal prosecution.

Bottom line, this is nobody's fault but your own so stop whining about the evils of the world and start looking for money to send to the bank.

This was a really bad thing to do before you decided to commit immigration fraud, which it appears was next in the plan.

Well said adjusterjack. Lets hope so :)

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Quoting Disagreeable

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This was a really bad thing to do before you decided to commit immigration fraud, which it appears was next in the plan.

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It's not impossible that it was easier for him to work (legally) before bringing the fiancee and kids back on the correct visas.

Bringing them over wasnt exactly a plan but an idea, nevertheless with this I will have to probably reconsider because the visa petitions are expensive.
anyways thank you for your insights

OK now I'm confused.

Do you intend to reside in the US, or Canada?