Recently, while I was out of town, I gave my girlfriend permission to write checks on my account if she needed to. She had them in her purse, while she was out with some "friends", and they got their automobile stuck in a ditch.
One of the girls with her asked to use her cell phone to call a tow truck because her own phone was not getting good enough reception. They called a tow truck to pull them(in her friend's Boyfriend's truck) out of the ditch. Her friends told her they had the towing fee covered.
Weeks later a check hit my account. It was written out in one hand-writing, and the signature looked like it couldn't have been signed by my girlfriend. I asked her if she wrote a check to pay for their towing, and she said "no", knowing that I got online digital copies of my check and i would find out. So there was no reason for her to lie about it. I showed her the digital copy and she said she didn't write it. I asked her several times, telling her if she did just let me know and I would cover it. If she didn't I was going to cancel it and report it as a fraudulent check.
She still maintained that she did not write the check so I canceled it.
Later the towing service called her phone making threats and I explained to them that neither one of us wrote the check and that it was reported as a fraudulent check.
It was turned over for collection where I explained the check was fraudulent and neither my girlfriend or I wrote it.
The police questioned us and we told them the story, and they questioned the tow truck driver, who is friends with the person we suspect wrote the check to them. The tow truck driver claimed he wrote the check out and my girlfriend signed it. They did not take any ID which is typical for this kind of transaction, which is kind of odd considering they were writing a check with a guy's name on it.
My girlfriend claimed that someone must have taken the checkbook out of her purse that was in the back seat of the truck while she was not present in the truck, and still maintains that she did not authorize or sign the check.
But now the State's Attorney is trying to prosecute my girlfriend for theft of services with nothing but the word of the tow truck driver.
I assume the proper course of action would be to have our attorney request a signature analysis to prove she didn't sign that check.
Any other suggestions?
One of the girls with her asked to use her cell phone to call a tow truck because her own phone was not getting good enough reception. They called a tow truck to pull them(in her friend's Boyfriend's truck) out of the ditch. Her friends told her they had the towing fee covered.
Weeks later a check hit my account. It was written out in one hand-writing, and the signature looked like it couldn't have been signed by my girlfriend. I asked her if she wrote a check to pay for their towing, and she said "no", knowing that I got online digital copies of my check and i would find out. So there was no reason for her to lie about it. I showed her the digital copy and she said she didn't write it. I asked her several times, telling her if she did just let me know and I would cover it. If she didn't I was going to cancel it and report it as a fraudulent check.
She still maintained that she did not write the check so I canceled it.
Later the towing service called her phone making threats and I explained to them that neither one of us wrote the check and that it was reported as a fraudulent check.
It was turned over for collection where I explained the check was fraudulent and neither my girlfriend or I wrote it.
The police questioned us and we told them the story, and they questioned the tow truck driver, who is friends with the person we suspect wrote the check to them. The tow truck driver claimed he wrote the check out and my girlfriend signed it. They did not take any ID which is typical for this kind of transaction, which is kind of odd considering they were writing a check with a guy's name on it.
My girlfriend claimed that someone must have taken the checkbook out of her purse that was in the back seat of the truck while she was not present in the truck, and still maintains that she did not authorize or sign the check.
But now the State's Attorney is trying to prosecute my girlfriend for theft of services with nothing but the word of the tow truck driver.
I assume the proper course of action would be to have our attorney request a signature analysis to prove she didn't sign that check.
Any other suggestions?
