Passing bad checks?

[Moussa I. Srour]

I need a legal advice for a friend of mine who got into a buisness deal
which went bad. He ended up sending 4 checks to creditors with not enough
money to cover them. Now he doesn't know what to do and what legal actions
would be taken against him. I helped him pay back one of the checks which
he recieved. He resides in Ohio, so what is the limit or exact kind of offense
that he committed? He seems to believe that since he passed less than 5-6
bad checks it will only hurt his credit history. Is that true?

Any response is appreciated.

Moses.

[Woodmanj]

Finally! Someone posts a question on a topic *and* a state I know about.

mi...@po.CWRU.Edu (Moussa I. Srour) writes:

>I need a legal advice for a friend of mine who got into a buisness deal
>which went bad. He ended up sending 4 checks to creditors with not enough
>money to cover them.

>From your wording, it doesn't sound like this was a mistake. If there was
a good faith mix-up, there probably isn't much of a criminal law problem.
But if he sent the checks knowing that the $$$ wasn't there, that's a
crime.

>Now he doesn't know what to do and what legal actions
>would be taken against him. I helped him pay back one of the checks which
>he recieved.

Good, that helps. People who have had the checks made good are less
likely to press charges. Also, prosecutors are usually too busy to mess
with PBC cases where the victim has laready been reimbursed.

>He resides in Ohio, so what is the limit or exact kind of offense
>that he committed?

He has committed four counts of passing bad checks. The level of the
crime is determined by how much the checks were written for. $0-$300 is a
first degree misdemeanor (possible 6 months in jail/$1,000 fine plus
restitution to victim). $ felony (poss 18 months/$2,500 fine plus
restitution to the victim). I'll hope for his sake it isn't more than
that.

>He seems to believe that since he passed less than 5-6
>bad checks it will only hurt his credit history. Is that true?

No. IF he pays all of the victims immediately, he may avoid prosecution
for the reasons stated above. But if he fails to pay them and he thinks
the worse thing that will happen is that he will get sued and get a bad
credit rating, he is very wrong. Chances are that if he does not make
good on the chacks, he will spend time in jail. Remember, PBC cases are
usually very easy to prove: there is a check, signed by the defendant,
that was denied by his bank for insufficient funds. Even comatose
prosecutors can win cases like that.

Good luck. If your friend needs a criminal defense lawyer in Cleveland, I
can refer him to one via email.

Jonathan A. Woodman | That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Wood...@aol.com | *This is not legal advice!* Besides, who
Criminal Defense Attorney | would follow legal advice from the Net?!