Deposit Account Fraud O.C.G.A. 16-9-20
Fight Your Atlanta Georgia Deposit Account Fraud with the Assistance of a Yeargan & Kert, LLC Criminal Defense Lawyer
You never thought you would be wonder what a financial crime was or how to use the best defense to get avoid criminal liability. You may be looking for information to help a loved one facing a deposit account fraud charge. It does not matter the reason you are reading this, you are preparing to fight a serious charge.
Atlanta Georgia has plenty of financial crimes to punish anyone who commits a crime involving money or something of value. For example, one criminal statute is devoted to punishing people who use a credit card in a fraudulent way to obtain money or something of value.
A financial transaction card fraud charge, also called credit card fraud, is one example of financial crime. The state of Georgia uses specific elements to prove a person guilty of this type of financial crime.
According to the state statute, an individual makes a financial transaction with the intent to defraud the issuer. The issuer may be an individual or organization such as a retail store.
To be charged with the criminal charge, you knew the financial transaction was revoked, altered, forged, expired or obtained fraudulently. This means that you allegedly knew the credit card was expired or forged when you used it to buy goods, services or something of value.
You can also be charged with financial card transaction fraud if you:
- You did not have the consent of the owner when you took or used the credit card
- You used the credit card to pay for items without the true owner’s permission
- You pretended to be the true owner of the credit card. This is known as false representation.
Let’s get to the criminal charge you want to know more information about. There are a lot of things you make know about the financial crime you are charged with committing.
For example, you may know about writing a check that you do not have money in your account to immediately cover. You have to wait until you have the money to buy what you want. According to Georgia, this crime is called deposit account fraud. It is defined under the criminal statute O.C.G.A. 16-9-20.
What is Deposit Account Fraud in Atlanta Georgia?
According to state law, a person is guilty of this crime if they make, utter, execute, draw or deliver an instrument for payment of money. The instrument is presented to a bank or other type of depository for consideration. This means you give the bank the instrument in exchange for money. The crime occurs because that written instrument cannot be cashed because of insufficient funds.
You can be Accused of Deposit Account Fraud in Atlanta Georgia even if you did not Know You Insufficient Funds
You may not have known you did not have money in your account to cover your check. This often occurs when money such as a paycheck was supposed to be deposited into your account on Friday but it did not hit your account until Monday.
The state can build a prima-facie case against you if you did not know based on the following:
- You had no account with the bank or institution the written instrument was made, delivered or drawn on
- The drawee refused payment because of a lack of money when the written instrument was presented within 30 days after it was delivered. You were then given notice about the lack of funds and told to make repayment. You did not.
- You received notice by certified mail that there was not enough money in the account to cover the written instrument
Punishment for Deposit Account Fraud in Atlanta Georgia
The penalties for deposit account fraud depends on a variety of factors. For instance, if you have any previous conviction of this or any other similar fraud crimes. You may receive less or more time based on the extent and nature of the deposit made. Another factor in determining punishment depends on the money amount of your alleged written instrument.
If the amount of the written instrument is less than $500, the criminal sentence of 12 months in county jail.
Yeargan & Kert, LLC is Your Atlanta Georgia Deposit Account Fraud Criminal Lawyer
It is easy to make mistakes in desperate times. It is also easy to be accused of something you did not do. If you are accused of deposit account fraud, you have a lot of work ahead of you to clear your name and avoid the criminal punishment associated with the crime.
Yeargan & Kert, LLC will help you determine which defense is best. A defense is a way to combat the prosecutor’s argument that you are guilty. It may also weaken their case against you.
You help us determine the right defense to use during your free case evaluation. You explain what happened and what led up to the fraud charge. We take that information and conduct a thorough investigation. Based on the information and investigation, we come up with a defense strategy to help prove your innocence.
Deposit account fraud laws are complex and confusing. We seek to take the confusion and complexity out of the laws to help you understand while we fight your charge. Contact Yeargan & Kert, LLC.