Forgery can refer to a completely fabricated document or a document that has been altered to show fraudulent information. Forging or counterfeiting a document is a criminal offense, as is knowingly using or possessing a forged or counterfeit document.
Penalties If charged as a misdemeanor, the defendant can be sentenced to up to a year in jail, restitution to the victim and substantial court fines. If charged as a felony, the defendant can potentially be sentenced to up to three years in prison, in addition to fines and restitution.
To prove someone is guilty of PC 470, the prosecutor must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt: Defendant signed with another person's name or name; Defendant knew they did not have the authority to do so; Defendant did not have the authority to sign a name or another person's name;
The punishment for forgery varies from place to place. In most states, a person convicted of misdemeanor must face a jail sentence of at least one year. However, a conviction for felony must face an imprisonment more than one year.
Any person who forges any document or electronic record is guilty of an offence which, unless otherwise stated, is a felony and he is liable, unless owing to the circumstances of the forgery or the nature of the thing forged some other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years.
Simple Forgery: The act of imitating someone else's signature for fraudulent or deceptive purposes. Simulated Forgery: A more sophisticated form where technology is used to duplicate the signature. Traced Forgery: Involves using a genuine signature as a template to create a forged one.
Investigators analyze and compare various traits, such as the appearance of letters, of suspicious documents with known samples to help identify the author of the document. Investigators might also be asked to detect changes that may have occurred in an original document.
Forgery is a serious offense, specifically defined under California Penal Code Section 470. California law considers various acts as forgery. These include counterfeiting documents, signing someone else's name without authorization, falsifying legal documents, or creating counterfeit currency.