Mail Theft, Forgery and Misuse of a Stolen Bank Card

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
I found out my ex was stealing my mail from my mailbox. She stole bank cards, checks, etc. She used the bank cards to attempt to get into my accounts and steal all of my money. She stole checks, forged my signature, and cashed them. I've reported all of this to the police and I have several police reports. I even found out she has a warrant out. The problem is, I'm told that most likely nothing will happen. Even though we have forged checks that she put her name on. The banks have the ATM locations where she attempted to break into my accounts. It would be an easy open and shut case. I'm confused why the police/prosecutors won't pursue it. Can someone please explain or tell me how to get the police to pursue the charges??

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Quoting lildee

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My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
I found out my ex was stealing my mail from my mailbox. She stole bank cards, checks, etc. She used the bank cards to attempt to get into my accounts and steal all of my money. She stole checks, forged my signature, and cashed them. I've reported all of this to the police and I have several police reports. I even found out she has a warrant out. The problem is, I'm told that most likely nothing will happen. Even though we have forged checks that she put her name on. The banks have the ATM locations where she attempted to break into my accounts. It would be an easy open and shut case. I'm confused why the police/prosecutors won't pursue it. Can someone please explain or tell me how to get the police to pursue the charges??

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You say she ATTEMPTED to break into your accounts. Does that mean she did NOT do it? If she did not take any money, proving the intent required for a larceny case can be near impossible.

Understand that property crimes are now low level offenses in CA and most are not prosecuted even when you have a good case. An attempted theft case is almost always a non-starter, though that can change with sufficient PROOF of intent.

What happened with the checks? You say she forged your signature ... was that a conclusion the police also reached? Where were they cashed, and, what was the highest value of the single highest check? What was the total of all the checks cashed?

Did you file an affidavit of forgery with the bank, and did they refund your money?

Keep in mind that there is nothing you can do that will compel the DA to pursue criminal charges. Nothing. In several CA counties, they will no longer prosecute misdemeanor property crimes. Prior to the passage of Prop 47, attempts to use debit or credit cards could be charged as felony burglary as could attempts to pass forged checks. Now, these are individual petty theft offenses (misdemeanors). Unfortunately, the state of CA has decided that property crimes are not worth the effort ... thank the voters and the state legislature.

Did you notify the bank? That's the first you do.

She got into one account and took money. The bank handled that. I was told since they bank gave me my money back, there's really nothing else that can be done with that.
I did file an affidavit for the forged check. I got my money back for the first check. I'm still in the process of dealing with the other check she stole and forged. One check was for $1500. This newest check was for $2200. Total of $3700 in stolen and forged checks. She actually signed her name on the back of the checks and forged my signature as if I was signing them over to her (I'm surprised that's even legal). The police concluded forgery since she actually put her name on them. She cashed the checks right in her own back account as well.
Wow this sucks. So basically she's going to keep getting away with this because it's a low level crime. She probably knows this and knows she can get away with it. Ugh!!

Well, with the amount totaling more than $950 for a single transaction, that is a felony for grand theft ... provided there's not some question as to whether or not you authorized the payment. If there is evidence, this should be one they will pursue. But, a lot depends on the nature of the evidence. If the police/DA have not yet done so, they will likely need to get a handwriting analysis of the checks to verify forgery. If they have not yet asked you for a writing exemplar, then they still have some ways to go.

Did the police say whether or not they were forwarding the matter to the DA? Keep in mind that these matters can take many months to proceed, and the statute of limitations on felony larceny is 3 years.

Ok, good to know. I'll talk to the police again today when I go report the latest $2200 forged check. I'll ask them about the handwriting analysis.
I now have the IRS on my butt regarding the taxes on these checks. They are now also investigating the identity theft and forgery. It'll all just really frustrating. Esp since, the criminals seem to get away with it all.
Thanks for your help.

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Quoting lildee

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Ok, good to know. I'll talk to the police again today when I go report the latest $2200 forged check. I'll ask them about the handwriting analysis.
I now have the IRS on my butt regarding the taxes on these checks. They are now also investigating the identity theft and forgery. It'll all just really frustrating. Esp since, the criminals seem to get away with it all.
Thanks for your help.

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How did the IRS get involved??? That seems ... odd. VERY odd. Why would they be concerned about a check you may have written to someone? Was this written as a paycheck of some sort? Are you sure the IRS is actually involved over the forged checks?

As for the investigation, handwriting analysis can be expensive. It may be that the agency will not opt to pursue that angle. But, that may also mean that they will not proceed very far with the investigation. Let us know what they say when you take to the investigating agency.

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Quoting cdwjava

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How did the IRS get involved??? That seems ... odd. VERY odd. Why would they be concerned about a check you may have written to someone? Was this written as a paycheck of some sort? Are you sure the IRS is actually involved over the forged checks?

As for the investigation, handwriting analysis can be expensive. It may be that the agency will not opt to pursue that angle. But, that may also mean that they will not proceed very far with the investigation. Let us know what they say when you take to the investigating agency.

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I also cannot see any reason at all why the IRS would care at all who he wrote checks to or why. If the IRS is really involved there is a whole lot more to this story than we are being told.

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Quoting llworking

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I also cannot see any reason at all why the IRS would care at all who he wrote checks to or why. If the IRS is really involved there is a whole lot more to this story than we are being told.

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I agree. Or, the mystery IRS agent/contact is a scam of some sort and just happened to come down about the same time as all of this.

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Quoting cdwjava

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I agree. Or, the mystery IRS agent/contact is a scam of some sort and just happened to come down about the same time as all of this.

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That is not outside the realm of possibility. It would be a bit unusual, but there have been some really intricate IRS scams going on lately. Unfortunately, I am still leaning more towards there being more to this story than the OP has shared.