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My question involves criminal law for the state of: Oregon

A rather naive friend of mine has been screwed over when they unknowingly helped someone steal money from businesses/corporations by way of obtaining checks for significant amounts a few months ago (from only $35 up to as much as $15,000 - I guess the $15,000 was the only "large" check, and the rest were no more than $3,000).

The aforementioned criminal (not my friend - the scammer - I'll call him Larry) lied, and told my friend that he provided a service to people who needed help turning their checks into cash. These clients for whatever reason both couldn't obtain a bank account or did not want to - and did not have the proper identification to even attempt to cash their check regardless of having a bank account or not - and so, supposedly, they would come to Larry with a check in their name and Larry would act as the middle man, and endorse the check to one of his supposedly many bank account owners, who would then sign the checks, deposit them, wait for them to clear, and withdraw 70% of the profit (keeping 30 for themselves) - Larry would get a small chunk as well, and the majority would go to the actual check owner. My friend said Larry had told them that he had been doing this for many years, and that's why his clientele was so large (my friend probably deposited around 30 checks total within a 6-week period - totaling to around $25,000 he thinks - and one check was a lump sum of $15,000 apparently). So this was what my friend was TOLD but it was a lie.

These checks were stolen and Larry was not given permission to alter them by endorsing them to other people. Not to my surprise, my friend noticed some of these checks bouncing back out of their bank account... and after already withdrawing the majority of the money, thinking they were cleared, my friend's bank account became very negative, and they became financially screwed... Once the checks started bouncing back out of their account (and this happened pretty much all at once, within the course of a day or two), my friend notified Larry and said there must be some mistake, and Larry told them to flee the area and try to close their bank account.

That's when my friend drew the obvious conclusion that Larry was in fact not just "trying to help out people with cashing checks" but was in fact stealing money and committing fraud. And my friend would be on paper - not Larry. My friend was furious and tried repeatedly to contact Larry, but was ignored. A couple months later, my friend discovered that Larry had been arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of drugs, and "fraud" (we think maybe the police discovered checks in his car or on his person for multiple people?). We are not sure if Larry after further questioning for the checks, tried to convince the police that my friend was responsible and not himself for being the middle man and not even informing my friend that what they were doing was very illegal. We still don't know how Larry obtained these checks.

My friend is terrified and refuses to call their bank and try to explain for fear of being convicted regardless of their ignorance. Today, two police deputy showed up at my friend's house, saying they just had a couple of questions to ask about checks. My friend did not come to the door and told me to tell the police that my they would not speak with them until they had legal representation present - or until an arrest warrant was obtained. The police seemed rather aggravated and said they would be back with an arrest warrant, but left their business card and said to e-mail/call them if my friend changed their mind and decided to cooperate. Out of fear of them coming back quickly with an arrest warrant, my friend e-mailed the deputy and arranged to meet with them a week from now, to buy themselves time to get legal advice and gather evidence against Larry.

I've tried to tell my friend that if they were completely oblivious about the fraud, that they would not be convicted or in trouble, but my friend seems paranoid and thinks they already come across as guilty for not having returned the many phone calls from their bank. They struggle with emotional/psychological problems (depression/anxiety) and so I think that could be part of it. They also seem very embarrassed and ashamed for buying into something like that, which has now put them in the spotlight in a very bad way.

What steps can my friend take to ensure they will not be falsely convicted of fraud or forgery or whatever this would be classified as, seeing as they were unaware of the actual circumstances surround these checks? Should they just be as cooperative as possible? How important is legal representation? Should they have a lawyer present when they meet with this deputy officer for questioning?

Thank you for reading, and any advise/input is greatly appreciated. No harsh judgements or unproductive dialogue, please. My friend realizes that they must face the consequences of their naivety and is becoming more willing to do so.

Your friend needs to shut up about this, get a lawyer NOW, and stop any foolish ideas about "gathering evidence." Because you are absolutely wrong -- your "friend" could absolutely be in trouble. A lot of trouble. And if you really are his friend, you'll not post about his criminal activities any more. Haven't you ever heard "ignorance is no excuse"? Well neither is stupidity.

Your friend should NOT meet with the police without an attorney. Because if he was naive enough to fall for this, he'll be naive enough to talk himself into a conviction.