Expert: Robin Sexton - 4/17/2008

Question
We need guidance on how to proceed.
There are several flags in this story, it was all done before my son told us about it.
My 17 year old son "AA" was asked by a classmate "SE" to "help him out".  SE's grandmother gave him a blank signed check for $500.  SE driver's license had been stolen and could not cash the check.  SE made the check out to AA.  AA went to his bank, which happened to the be same bank as SE's grandmother, cashed the check and gave the money to SE.  AA was concerned initially that there would be some repercussions for cashing a check for more than he had in the bank, which is why he told us what he had done.  We then informed him that he should not have done that for several reasons, but never suspected this.  3 weeks after the check was cashed, the bank returns the check and withdraws the $500 from AA's account, sighting that is had been turned as lost/fraud by the account holder, in our eyes, the grandmother.  AA contacted SE and told him the bank had returned the check and the SE needed to repay the $500.  SE said he would but he would have to make payments.  After several attempts, SE always had an excuse for no payment and that his grandmother had not stopped the check.  When asked for his grandmother's phone number, he would not comply.  We had a copy of the cashed check from the bank, so we looked up the name in the phone book and gave them a call.  They informed us that they did not have a grandson and they had had a check book stolen.  Now we know that AA unknowingly cashed a stolen check given to him and forged by SE.  Communicating with the people from which the check book was stolen, we now know how and about when the check book was stolen.
What we and AA do now?  We could report this to the police, but then he could be arrested for ??? forgery, fraud, theft, until proven innocent, even though that's not the way its supposed to work.

SE took advantage of my son's loyalty, and AA now knows to never accept a 3rd party check again.

Thanks
Mark

Answer
Mark,

I agree it is a mess.  Don't wait any longer, call the police.  Your son was taken advantage of.  This is a pretty common scenario.  The most common is these counterfeit lottery checks that come in the mail from outside the US.  People cash then then are held responsible by the bank.  The other step I would take is if your son is still in contact with SE see if a phone call or a conversation can be recorded that would implicate SE in the con.  Your other choice is to contact a private attorney and file suit.  However the cost may be higher then the loss.


Good Luck


Robin