FORGERY 

Forgery is a very serious form of fraud. Forgery, a white-collar crime, happens when somebody attempts to forge a type of writing or document in order to defraud another person, business or entity. Forgery can involve checks, cash, stamps and just about any type of document that can be physically or digitally altered. The most well known type of forgery is the altering of checks, but forgery can cover many different types of fraudulent document alterations. If you’re being investigated for forgery or any type of fraud, your top priority needs to be getting in touch with a criminal defense attorney who has proven white-collar crime defense experience.

Forgery And Other Forms of Fraud 

Forgery is a type of fraud. Any time a document is altered with the intention to defraud somebody, that’s forgery. It can involve checks, stamps, credit card applications, real estate documents, tax documents or any official paperwork. If a document is illegally altered, and the intention is to defraud another person or entity, that can be considered forgery. Where cases of forgery are concerned, it’s not uncommon to see additional charges related to fraud and white-collar crime tacked on.

Altering a Check

Altering a check is one of the most common types of forgery. Check forgery can happen in a variety of ways. In some cases, a person might add a zero to the end of an amount on the check. This is an attempt to defraud the bank and the check writer of additional cash. Dates and other information can be forged as well. If you’re facing charges or an investigation associated with altering a check, defrauding a bank or any type of financial forgery, you need to contact a criminal defense attorney at your earliest convenience to get the ball rolling on your case.

Creating False Documents 

In some cases, forgery involves altering documents or checks that have already been issued. That’s a type of forgery. Another type of forgery involves creating a completely false document from scratch. While it may be easier to make alterations to a legitimate document to falsify certain details, falsifying or forging a completely new document is also illegal. Both situations can land you with felony charges, so it’s critical to get in touch with a lawyer as soon as you’ve been arrested or are facing charges.

Passing Off a Forged Document as Legitimate

If a document has been altered from it’s original state, and a person is trying to pass of the alterations as legitimate, that’s forgery. This can involve just about any type of document, but it is most frequently associated with checks, tax documents, credit card applications and other financial documents. Even something as simple as a decimal placement can have serious implications. Adding a zero or altering an important piece of information on a financial document or check can leave you facing years behind bars and thousands of dollars in potential fines.

Felony Forgery Charges

In most cases, forger charges are felonies. This means, if convicted you’re going to be facing more than one year in a correctional prison facility. Depending upon the type of document forged and the amount of money in question, you could be facing up to 10 years or more behind bars. This could be in addition to thousands of dollars in potential fines associated with your charges. If convicted of forgery or any other type of fraud, you can expect to have additional negative impacts to your ability to earn a living once you’re out of prison. This type of crime is associated with business ethics violations, and you can even lose certain types of professional licenses, if convicted.