Bank Accounts Frozen

[Worried and Scared]

I worked for a company as a manager and had access to checks and was a signer on the bank account. Two years ago, my husband had surgery and was disabled and was consequently laid-off by his company. As bills piled up, I got desparate and wrote checks to myself out of my companies account. My company is now being sold and in an audit, the theft was discovered in the amount of $17,000 and I was let go. I received a letter from them telling me that I was terminated and that I was still able to cash out my 401K and that the incident was being investigated and they would decide whether to proscecute when this was completed. This was one month ago and I have not heard anything else from them. However, this evening, I tried to withdraw money with my ATM and was told the card was cancelled and both my checking and small savings account had been placed on hold. The bank told me to call in the morning and talk to someone in Loss Prevention about the hold. Can these two be related and should I get an attorney? I have not told me family anything about this and would like to keep it that way. My husband thinks I have been laid-off. I thought someone with my company would contact me about the investigation and did not worry about the bank. Any advise would be appreciated. If it is important, I live in Texas.

[blueeagle]

Embezzlement is the one part of the criminal justice system I never understood. To many different codes and statures. I will try to advise the best I can though...

I take it you're being accused of stealing over 17,000 dollars? This would constitute a state jail felony. Punishment range is 180 day-2 years in jail, and a fine not to exceed 10,000 dollars. Don't worry, chances are your get probation/fine/community service.

Again, this is part of the system where my knowledge is limited. I advise you try and consult a criminal defense attorney.

Good Luck.

[Worried and Scared]

Would anyone know if the bank could put a hold on my accounts or is this just a coincidence?

[Just Breath]

Would anyone know if the bank could put a hold on my accounts or is this just a coincidence?

Do you know of any other reason the bank would put a hold on two accounts in your name? Do you have any outstanding debt judgments? Owe the IRS?

[Just Breath]

I do know someone that was in a similar situation many years ago in Texas. In that case, the thief borrowed money from every family member he could in order to make restitution to the business owner, who then dropped the criminal charges. Unfortunately, in that case, the business owner grossly overinflated the amount allegedly stolen, but the thief couldn't prove otherwise. Even though the business owner was trying to extort a larger sum from the thief, paying his demand was a better alternative to criminal prosecution and the possibility of jail time.

[deadlock]

Would anyone know if the bank could put a hold on my accounts or is this just a coincidence?

I doubt it is a coincidence.
Embezzlement is a felony in which both Federal and State Laws will apply.

8000 - FDIC Miscellaneous Statutes and Regulations

§ 1306. Participation by financial institutions.

Whoever knowingly violates section 5136A of the Revised Statutes of the United States, section 9A of the Federal Reserve Act, or section 20 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

[Codified to 18 U.S.C. 1306]

[Source: Section 1306 added by section 5(a) of the Act of December 15, 1967 (Pub. L. No. 90--203; 81 Stat. 611), effective April 1, 1968, as amended by section 962(b) of title IX of the Act of August 9, 1989 (Pub. L. No. 101--73; 103 Stat. 502), effective August 9, 1989; section 330016(1)(H) of title XXXIII of the Act of September 13, 1994 (Pub. L. No. 103--322; 108 Stat. 2147), effective September 13, 1994] ]


§ 1341. Frauds and swindles.

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any such matter or thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.


If you have not yet been charged, assume the bank is building a case against you. You need a local attorney to help you with this.

All your accounts are frozen while the bank is investigating the matter.

[aaron]

Trying to think of how this could happen without anything going through a court... I can suggest this possibility: Your employer notified the bank that the checks were not valid, and their bank set about cancelling the transactions. Recent checks were invalidated, and your bank has frozen your accounts while it figures out whether it has to return the money.

If your employer is still trying to figure out whether or not to charge you, this is probably the time to try to figure out how you can pay restitution. Sometimes the decisive factor in an employer's determination of "whether or not to charge" is whether it has received its money back.

[deadlock]

Escrow while the company negotiates with whomever is backing the loan?

[Worried and Scared]

Thank you all for your advise. I have now talked with my bank and it appears that my employers bank has notified my bank that there were unauthorized checks deposited into my account and they wish to be reimbursed (or the checks reversed). My bank has frozen my account until they have investigate. I don't know if I make arrangements for restituion with my employer or their bank, will my bank release my funds. The lady I talked to at my bank did not know. Also, I am hoping that I can avoid prosecution by pro-actively persuing restitution? Any thought? I have been in contact with local attorneys, but with it being a weekend, I have not been called back.

[deadlock]

I am assuming you deposited the checks but you have not actually taken the money from your account.

Since this happened a month ago, have the transactions you made on your account been covered by the $17,000 of your employer's money?

Anything said would be guessing. I think that because you are in a situation where there is another party investigating the finances of your employer, it might be more complicated.

You really need to ask an attorney to help you sort this out. That will be the best person to assess the situation and know how it might play out for you.

I am sure you would like to be prepared for the worst but it really isn't practical to make a guess about what might happen.

My thoughts about your last statement- that "you want to make restitution with your employer as soon as possible and avoid any charges" - you might consider making that a priority when you speak to an attorney. I hope this is possible. Again in your case, this discovery was made during a finacial audit of the company.