Writing a Bad Check Can Land You in Jail

In the state of Nevada, writing a bad check is a criminal offense and it constitutes check fraud. If you have been accused of check fraud, it is extremely important that you retain a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney to protect your legal rights. If the amount of the check was over $250.00, you could be charged with a category D felony offense under NRS 193.130.

Who knew writing a bad check could get you into so much trouble these days? Perhaps you wrote the bad check in error, because you weren’t keeping track of your bank account, or maybe a spouse or co-signer on your bank account made a transaction that you were not aware of, or perhaps you needed to buy groceries in order to feed your family and made a judgment call. Regardless of the reason why you got into this situation in the first place, you need a strong defense in order to avoid criminal penalties.

Under Nevada law, check fraud is a form of theft crime. You could be forced to pay fines, serve jail time, community service as well as full restitution. The outcome of your case will be based on several factors, including whether or not you issued other bad checks in a 90 day period. There is an entire unit devoted to prosecuting people who write bad checks and it is called the Bad Check Unit of the District Attorney’s office. If you wrote more than one bad check within a 90 day period, you may be fined for each bad check that you wrote.

For a bad check written below $250.00, it is a misdemeanor offense which is punishable by up to 6 months in jail, a $1,000 fine, plus additional fees for each NSF check. For checks that were issued over $250.00, they are prosecuted as a category D felony offense, which is punishable by up to 4 years in prison, up to $5,000.00 in fines and additional fees per each NSF check in addition to other fines and restitution.

Las Vegas Bad Check Lawyer

The fines and penalties for writing bad checks are severe in Nevada. If you are under investigation for or, if you have been charged with check fraud, contact a Las Vegas bad check attorney from the De Castroverde Law Group without delay.