Hypothetical cheque stealing question

[John]

Hi,

Recently, I had an issue where a large cheque written to me was lost in the
mail. Everything was eventually resolved, another cheque was written and I
got paid.

But, if that cheque had been intercepted and cashed by somebody other than
myself ... and the money basically stolen. Who would be at the loss?

Would I be at the loss? Since the cheque was written sent to me and cashed?

Or would the client be at a loss since the cheque was never received by me?

Not that it matters .. because either way you'd be screwed. Upsetting a
long term customer would be worse than losing the cheque.

Thanks in advance for your opinion,
John

PS-I've attempted to post this several times, but I think my ISP is having
problems.... just in case they all arrive together.

[Some Dude]

Post by John
Hi,
Recently, I had an issue where a large cheque written to me was lost in the
mail. Everything was eventually resolved, another cheque was written and I
got paid.
But, if that cheque had been intercepted and cashed by somebody other than
myself ... and the money basically stolen. Who would be at the loss?
Would I be at the loss? Since the cheque was written sent to me and cashed?
Or would the client be at a loss since the cheque was never received by me?
Not that it matters .. because either way you'd be screwed. Upsetting a
long term customer would be worse than losing the cheque.
Thanks in advance for your opinion,
John
PS-I've attempted to post this several times, but I think my ISP is having
problems.... just in case they all arrive together.

I'm sure this depends on the banking laws in your jurisdiction.

Here in Canada, I know from personal experience that the bank would be
on the hook since they failed to exercise due diligence by cashing the
forged check. Since most banks put holds on checks to make sure they
clear, there would most likely be no issue if you reported the check
missing within the hold period.

[Binyamin Dissen]

On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:29:27 -0000 "John" <***@nospam.com> wrote:

:>Recently, I had an issue where a large cheque written to me was lost in the
:>mail. Everything was eventually resolved, another cheque was written and I
:>got paid.

:>But, if that cheque had been intercepted and cashed by somebody other than
:>myself ... and the money basically stolen. Who would be at the loss?

:>Would I be at the loss? Since the cheque was written sent to me and cashed?

:>Or would the client be at a loss since the cheque was never received by me?

:>Not that it matters .. because either way you'd be screwed. Upsetting a
:>long term customer would be worse than losing the cheque.

Depends on the local laws and how the check was written.

In the USA, in general, it is relatively easy to stop the check - even within
a certain period after it is cashed. It is difficult to cash a check without
the bank knowing who you are.

In Israel, unless the check was endorsed (by the writer) as non-transferable
it is a completely negotiable instrument and anyone can cash it - and if the
writer stops it and a third party attempts to cash it and is refused, he will
sue the writer and most likely win - even if the second party did not do his
part of the contract. Any check I write (in Israel) is made non-transferable
and for the recipient alone.

As you write "check" as "cheque" I presume Europe/UK and I think Israel copied
the laws from there.

--
Binyamin Dissen <***@dissensoftware.com>
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Director, Dissen Software, Bar & Grill - Israel


Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me,
you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain.

I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems,
especially those from irresponsible companies.

[jmk]

Post by John
Hi,
Recently, I had an issue where a large cheque written to me was lost in the
mail. Everything was eventually resolved, another cheque was written and I
got paid.
But, if that cheque had been intercepted and cashed by somebody other than
myself ... and the money basically stolen. Who would be at the loss?
Would I be at the loss? Since the cheque was written sent to me and cashed?
Or would the client be at a loss since the cheque was never received by me?
Not that it matters .. because either way you'd be screwed. Upsetting a
long term customer would be worse than losing the cheque.

I had a similar situation some years ago. I advised my bank that they had
paid out the money to someone other than the person it was intended to; such
that they had wrongfully removed money from my account. They put the money
back.

[Wayne Sallee]

I had a situation a little different, but one of the cheks
I deposited, was not properly added to my account, and my
deposit was short. I recieved a notice from the bank that
I did not get the full amount deposited because my diposit
was missing a check.

I then contacted the bank and asked them to send me a
photo copy of the deposit. They did, but the check that
they clamed was not there had been cut out of the
photocopy with a pair of sizors. I called the bank, and
asked them why someone took a pair of sizors to my coppy.
They said that it was to cut out a chek that was not mine.
I told them that it was mine and that I wanted a complete
copy without the check cut out. So they sent me a copy
without the check cut out. When I got the copy I could see
that it was mine, but only half of the check was showing,
as the other half was hanging off the edge of the page. I
called them and told them it was my check and that I
wanted my money. I was also able to figure out who wrote
the check, and called them.

Eventualy they corrected the issue. They had actualy made
3 mistakes. (1) did not fully scan entire check (2)
claimed the check was not included in with deposit (3)
incorrecly keyed in the amount of the check as 10% of it's
value, ie they left off the last digit of the check amount.

From then on, I scann all of my checks before depositing
them.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets

Post by John
Hi,
Recently, I had an issue where a large cheque written to me was lost in the
mail. Everything was eventually resolved, another cheque was written and I
got paid.
But, if that cheque had been intercepted and cashed by somebody other than
myself ... and the money basically stolen. Who would be at the loss?
Would I be at the loss? Since the cheque was written sent to me and cashed?
Or would the client be at a loss since the cheque was never received by me?
Not that it matters .. because either way you'd be screwed. Upsetting a
long term customer would be worse than losing the cheque.
Thanks in advance for your opinion,
John
PS-I've attempted to post this several times, but I think my ISP is having
problems.... just in case they all arrive together.