|
Procedures
No Account, Forged and Stolen Checks
Report
no account, forged and stolen checks immediately to your local police department. Please
do not handle the check any more then you have to. Rather, place it
in an envelope to protect any latent fingerprints that may be on it. Determine
from the initials or identifying number which employee took the check, show
it to the employee without handling it, and determine whether he or she
remembers the passer. Then give this information to the police. If
there is some written documentation of the transaction for which the
check was received, i.e. a duplicate sales slip, a cash register tape, a
contract, or a work order, locate the documentation and give it to the police.
Non-Sufficient Funds Checks
If a check is returned non-sufficient funds (“NSF”), run it
through the collection process a second time unless the bank has given
specific instructions not to do so. Most checks returned NSF are a result
of faulty bookkeeping on the part of the account holder and are not intentionally
fraudulent. Thus they are frequently paid the second time around. If
the bank instructs, “do not redeposit,” it is usually an indication
the account is seriously overdrawn.
If possible, make personal contact with the person who passed the bad check at the person’s home. Make a note of who made the contact and the date and time the contact was made. Also note what was said.
If you are unsuccessful in collecting the bad check, you may bring it to the Prosecutor’s Office for collection. We will send the payer a letter to advise him or her that you received a check that was returned to you NSF and notify the payer that he or she has ten (10) days to pay the bad check and any applicable fees. If we collect the bad check and applicable fees, we forward the monies directly to you. If the payer fails to pay the bad check and applicable fees, we prosecute the case. But remember, obtaining a warrant is no guarantee you will recover your losses; that matter is in the hands of the Court. Prevention is always the best cure.
>>Next: Identification is
the Key to Prevention and Prosecution