Tulsa County merchants lose millions of dollars because of bad checks. Consumers
share in these losses through higher prices. The District Attorney's Office has
a Bogus Check Restitution Program to track down bad check writers, return the money
to the victims, deter future offenses and provide offenders an opportunity to avoid
prosecution and criminal records in exchange for paying full restitution to victims.
In addition, this program alleviates case loads which burden the entire criminal
justice system, in order to devote more resources to more serious crimes.
How Does It Work?
If you receive a bogus check, the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office is available
to assist you in collecting the face value of the check plus a $25 Merchant Return
Fee. This is done at no cost to the merchant. There also is no cost to the taxpayer
to administer the program. The cost is covered by the check writer, who pays a fee
to the DA’s office for each check returned.
What is a Bogus Check?
A bogus check is one that is returned for insufficient funds,
account closed or no account found.
How Do Merchants Use the Program?
Don’t let hot checks cool off in your files; the
sooner we receive them, the more effective we can be in collecting them. Our merchant
packets contain documents to send with bogus checks so that we may attempt to collect
money owed you. Complete as much information on the affidavit as possible to help
us be successful in collecting on your behalf. If we cannot collect voluntary restitution,
the affidavit allows us to file criminal charges on the check writer, and another
chance to collect.
How Do I Get My Money?
When we collect on a check for you, we send a voucher that
contains the original amount of the check and the $25.00 Merchant Return Fee.
How Do I Learn More?
Phone 596-4815 or 596-4816, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m.
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