s could have happened, he let me know loudly that he didn't care a bit why first interstate bank would have cashed a junk-mail check, because this was a matter of fraud.
he'd heard i was out of town, so he proceeded to drill me with possible ways to get the check back immediately.
he said, "can you fly back to return the check right now?"
"no, sir."
"then could someone else open the box?"
"no, sir. i'm the only one on the signature card."
"will you give me permission to drill the box?"
"no, sir."
"so you won't cooperate!"
i replied, "yes, i will. as soon as i get back on july 6."
"why won't you give me permission to drill the box?"
"because it would be irresponsible of me. you say you're from first interstate bank and that the check was returned, but i haven't received anything in writing. i feel responsible for the money now, and i feel i should receive an official letter from my bank."
now things really got heated. he shouted, "you're not getting any letter! this phone call is all you're getting, and it's all i have to give you! you committed check fraud when you got a cashier's check for money you knew wasn't yours. and this isn't about $100 or $10,000. we're talking about $100,000 dollars! almost $100,000. if you don't return that money, what you're going to get is policemen at your door! now will you give me permission to drill the box?"
"no, sir."
but he lightened up a lot when i told him, "i have not spent, nor do i intend to spend, a cent of that money. and i have no intention of keeping money that doesn't belong to me." as a matter of fact, it warmed him up so much that he said if i would agree to call him on july 6, the minute i got home, no matter what the hour (he gave me his home number and his pager number), then he wouldn't take further action. he also said he'd comply with my request to unfreeze my bank account so that checks i had written wouldn't bounce.
that conversation left my mind racing for days.
end of part iii
part iv: learning my rights
patrick combs is available as keynote speaker for your next event. let him inspire your audience with the story and discussion of his $95,000 adventure. he is also the author of major in success: make college easier, beat the system & get a very cool job (ten speed press). all contents on this page ? 1995, by patrick combs. all rights reserved. http://www.goodthink.com
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$95,093.35 adventure, part iv learning my rights
i arrived in new york still quite shaken from the telephone call with the security officer. the words "fraud," "policemen" and "not willing to cooperate" kept echoing in my head.
i decided it was time to learn my rights.
after a few quick phone calls to law schools, i had a list of bay area lawyers who specialized in banking and checks. i decided to call manuel fields first because of his specialty, check fraud.
i told manuel my first name and asked him if i could tell him my situation to determine whether or not i needed a lawyer. "sure," he said. i told him the entire story, without mentioning the amount of the junk-mail check. he laughed a bit and asked, "exactly how much was this check for?"
i was hesitant to tell a lawyer the amount, but i knew i couldn't lie. i said, "$95,093.35."
for what seemed like a full minute, all i heard on the other end of the line was a man laughing very, very hard.
"i'm sorry," he said after he finished. "i've just never heard of anything like this."
manuel informed me of the following:
* according to commercial paper law, the money was now legally mine, because all checks are first assumed to be valid, and the way a bank invalidates a check is by serving the depositor with a timely notice of dishonor. considering that it had taken my bank 33 days to tell me my check had been returned, he did not think they had dishonored the check in time.
* fraudulent checks are a different matter--but he said, "since you deposited the check thinking there was no chance it would cash, and without even endorsing it, you did not commit fraud."
* getting the cashier's check was also not an act of fraud, since the bank had previously assured me the check could no longer be returned.
so i called robert gage, and asked him to please fax me the customer service letter and a photocopy of the junk mail check from my bank. (i had forgotten what it had looked like and wanted to be very clear about what was on it and what wasn't.)
they faxed me documents.
what arrived by fax was a surprise. it was incredible to see the front and back of the check. i had forgotten just how real the bogus check looked. this was the first time that i could confirm that the check in fact matched all nine criteria for a negotiable instrument.
but what surprised me more was the "official letter" from my bank. what came out of the fax machine wasn't a letter