In Louisiana forgery usually incurs a fine of up to $5,000, up to ten years in prison, or both.

Generally, misdemeanor charges for check fraud can lead to criminal fines plus up to a year in jail. With felony charges, the fines can be thousands of dollars, and jail sentences may be over a year or even several years, depending on the extent of the crime and specific state laws.

Common Penalties for Forgery Offenses Forgery is considered a felony in all fifty states and is punishable by a range of penalties including jail or prison time, significant fines, probation, and restitution (compensating the victim for money or goods stolen as a result of the forgery).

Whoever commits the crime of false swearing shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.

drawee bank

What can I do? Contact your bank or credit union right away. State law generally provides that you are not responsible for a check if someone forged the signature of the person to whom you made out the check. Tell your bank or credit union what happened and ask for the money to be restored to your account.

Banks are generally required to reimburse customers for forged checks. However, based on individual circumstances, a bank can investigate to determine if the customer is entitled to a reimbursement. the customer’s failure to exercise ordinary care substantially contributed to an alteration or forgery.

Most states have a statute of limitations on forged checks. You usually have between one and two years beginning from the date the check was cashed to report the theft. You must be able to prove you didn’t sign the check, which typically just involves comparing your signature to the forgery.

If an unauthorized person forges your signature on your check and if the bank pays the check, in most cases you can make the bank reimburse you for the amount of the forged check. But you must be alert. If you are late, the bank is usually under no obligation to reimburse you.

There is no mandate of the customer to the bank to pay on such a forged cheque. The bank is not liable to debit the said amount of the cheque even if it is found that the customer did not take proper care to keep the cheque or the relevant cheque book in proper custody.

WHO CAN SUE THE DEPOSITARY BANK ON A FORGED ENDORSEMENT? The intended payee cannot sue if it never had possession of the check or if the check was never issued to it. It also cannot sue the depositary bank for breach of warranty. The drawee bank can sue the depositary bank for breach of warranty.

1 attorney answer The person that negotiated the check and the bank that cashed it are potentially in trouble. You cannot escape your responsibility for improperly negotiating the check even if the bank should not have cleared it either.

Cheque with a forged signature of the drawer is a nullity and gives no mandate to make any payment. Payment of a cheque with forged signature of the drawer is deemed as payment without the authority of the customer and hence a breach of the implied contract between a banker and his customer.

In its simplest form, forgery involves duplicating a person’s signature. This form of identity theft is rarely the work of a professional forger. Forged signatures are usually the work of individuals with rudimentary forgery skills who rely upon three common methods: simulation, tracing, cut and paste, and freehand.

When a bill of exchange, accepted payable at a specified bank, has been duly presented there for payment and dishonored, if the banker so negligently or improperly keeps, deals with or delivers back such bill as to cause loss to the holder, he must compensate the holder for such loss.

The duties and responsibilities of a collecting banker are discussed below:

• Due care and diligence in the collection of cheque.
• Serving notice of dishonor.
• Agent for collection.
• Remittance of proceeds to the customer.
• Collection of bill of exchange.