Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Accusation of Stealing

My past employee accused me of stealing money from the Company. I was the bookkeeper. He was borrowing money from a friend and the friend wanted to look at his books. There are checks made out to me with the boss's signature on them. He told his friend that he did not authorize them. What they were, were loans to me and payments for materials I needed for personal use. The amount ended up being approximately 4,000 dollars. The information was on Quickbooks and the information has been changed without my knowledge. My boss also had me not enter the checks into the check register because he didn't want it on the company books. I dont have access to the Register or the Quickbooks database. Also, we were roommates, so there was never any formal agreements written. I believe it is his word against mine, except that he has all the paperwork and Quickbooks data. Is there anything I can do to prepare myself if he tries to press charges? If he does press charges and I lose what would I be looking at as far as penalties? By the way, this is a man that has not paid his payroll taxes in the last 11 years.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to a response.


Asked on 9/15/01, 1:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Victor Hobbs Victor E. Hobbs

Re: Accusation of Stealing

In any civil or criminal case the issue would be who signed the checks. If he did, and with a qualified hand writing expert testifying to that, you'd have a very good chance. The cost of the expert, and the expense of a trial would be your biggest problems.

You're probably looking at returning the loan, and some sort of community service plus a fine if you're convicted on a criminal charge. Keep all the paper work that you have. And remember for the employer to file false charges is a crime.

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Answered on 10/26/01, 9:11 am


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