STATE INDIANA :)
Ok, a long time friend of my fiancé came to us asking us to cash a check for him. He stated it was for his large truck. The transmission had gone out he prepaid for the labor and new parts found out it was being overcharged and when he asked for his money back they sent a check. Reasonable story, he didn't want to go to a check cashing plave because they wanted 700 to cash it so we said OK we'd help him out.
He from the past owed my fiancé money and stated after everything was said and done (day of deposit) that we could use 2000 towards the closing amount we needed for a house we were buying. Of course we fell for that bait and sinker.. and deposited the check in the amount of 4,875 and since I had a balance of 2000 already I gave him 1000 that day. I asked the teller about verifying funds and he said they couldn't do that which surprised me but the bank I used to have (first indiana) had just merged with M&I bank and I didn't know their policy's.
The following morning when the check was available according to the teller I gave him an additional 1,875.
That night about 3am I checked my email (am pregnant and pee in the middle of the night then can't go back to sleep) and see something from the back saying I need to call about fraudulent activity. I got worried called first thing in the morning and low and behold the check is fake. They advise me to go file a police report and I do right away. While I am filing the report so called friend calls me and when I tell him what's going on he informed me that the check was not from a car place but from a lottery he had won.. in the mail! Turns out a Nigerian scam. He had put the money in his moms account and whoever the Nigerian people were withdrew the money I gave him plus 4grand. She lives in detroit and us in indianapolis so it made sense that he didn't drive up there to cash it as he wasn't allowed to leave state. I was furious if I had known where the check came from I would NEVER had deposited it in my account.
Investigators wrote up a report etc and two weeks later inform me that the prosecutors office will not file on him because he didn't know the check was fake and I didn't know so if they file on him they have to file on me as well because I was the one to cash it even though he lied about where it came from.
Fastforward we've been trying to get him to pay for three weeks, he always has a I'll call you back tonight and bring what I come up with over. My car has been repo'd, my bank acct is minus over a grand and we almost lost our store because that was rent money (MIL let us borrow a grand) and may still if we can't get any money. At one point he had me running around for 3 hours meeting him with money that he had to get a cashiers check for to prove to his probation officer he paid us back then disappeared.
So I finally call his PO and find out she never even heard my name she know about his mother but not me?
Soo when I come up with the filing fees I am going to file in small claims court. I then want to garnish wages and assets (nice house and cars) how do I go about doing the leins on the assets I know to garnish I have to get the judgment first then file for garnishing at the small claims area. And can I sue his wife as well since I have a feeling she is part of the reason we're not getting any money back and since they are married? She has a much stabler job and I'd like to be able to garnish hers as well.
What other fees can I tack on due to losing my car (credit ruined) almost losing store, bank account etc?
Thanks a ton for any advice I know we made a stupid mistake and are paying for it I just want my money back and him to pay for his own mistake!

STATE INDIANA :)Soo when I come up with the filing fees I am going to file in small claims court. I then want to garnish wages and assets (nice house and cars) how do I go about doing the leins on the assets I know to garnish I have to get the judgment first then file for garnishing at the small claims area. And can I sue his wife as well since I have a feeling she is part of the reason we're not getting any money back and since they are married? She has a much stabler job and I'd like to be able to garnish hers as well.
What other fees can I tack on due to losing my car (credit ruined) almost losing store, bank account etc?
Thanks a ton for any advice I know we made a stupid mistake and are paying for it I jsut want my money back and him to pay for his own mistake!


Okay - file against him in Small Claims Court. Whether his wife did or didn't know doesn't matter - you had no direct transaction with her, she's out of it. This is his problem and his debt.

Small Claims is relatively inexpensive and the sooner you file, the sooner the hearing, the sooner the Judgment.

I can't quite remember but you weren't going to make a profit from this transaction, were you? That could put her neck on the chopping block.

You can sue for everything you've lost financially - you can't sue for "almosts" or emotional stress, that type of thing. You are entitled to be made whole - that means put back in the same financial condition you were in when this nightmare started.

Once you get the Judgment, then track his assets and decide how you are going to collect. Right now it's pointless because his picture could change between now and when you are ready to collect.

No, I don't want to sue for the whole cost of the car (8grand still owed) but cost to get a new car because I will have to now. I can add the loan from family though to pay rent and whatever else lapsed due to the bank account being in the negative? How do I go about tracking the assets?
I was under the impression in the state of Indiana that any debts inc rued in marriage are the debt of the couple. The only reason I would like to involve her is she has and has had a steady job and I am worried he will quit and I won't get anything back if they live off her job.

This is not a debt. So the wife doesn't enter into it. Frankly, I'm not sure if you can win this. If you can prove that he misrepresented what this check was from, then you have a case. Otherwise its just a matter that you both were scammed.

The only thing you can sue for is costs DIRECTLY attributable to the check. In other words the $1875 you paid him. You might get interest costs if you had to borrow money to replace any part of the $1875. I doubt if you will get anything for the car, because losing the car was an indirect result.

If you do win a judgement, you can garnish his salary and any joint bank accounts. You will probably not be able to seize or lien and real property.

No, I dont want to sue for the whole cost of the car (8grand still owed) but cost to get a new car because I will have to now. I can add in the loan from family though to pay rent and whatever else lapsed due to the bank account being in the negative? How do I go about tracking the assets?
I was under the impression in the state of indiana that any debts inc rued in marriage are the debt of the couple. The only reason I would like to involve her is she has and has had a steady job and I am worried he will quit and I wont get anything back if they live off her job.



I agree with Scott and I'm just parroting what he said - if you were to gain anything from this transaction (a handling fee, some sort of courtesy fee) you are dead in the water.

If the person who gave you the check KNEW and you can prove it that the check was a fake, then you have a case. Otherwise he very well got duped, too. I would still pursue him because he in theory had first-hand or superior knowledge and you just relied on what he told you. I think you've got a 50/50 shot at winning. You would have to be very, very clear on why YOU cashed the check, where it came from, info like that. Your hands have to be clean in order for you to collect.

You are not entitled to reimbursement because your account went in the negative, you had to borrow money, you lost a car - you ARE entitled to be made whole, meaning any overdraft charges, anything of that nature should be part of your claim. Unfortunately some of what you went through is legally your own fault for trusting this guy and getting sucked into the scheme.

You can always throw anything in as damages. The problem is if you get too off base, too far fetched, the Court gets annoyed and it looks like you are on a "get rich" mission (and I understand this fiasco put you under a lot of pressure, I'm just telling you what the Court may say) and you get denied - and not treated well.

Within the past week I looked up the question of whether a spouse is responsible for the other spouse's debts. The law in Indiana is:

"In Indiana the doctrine of "necessaries" sometimes makes one spouse liable for the debts of another spouse. This would apply in the following situations:
The debt is incurred for the necessaries of life (such as food, or medical needs).
The spouse receiving the item is absolutely unable to pay for it.
The other spouse is able to pay for it at that time. "

I am sure this situation does not meet the criteria.

Judy is right about if you got anything out of it. But as I understand it he owed you money so the $2K you kept was just a repayment. That would be OK.

Not what you want to hear.

If the one person owed you money before, and the check was bad, they still owe you that money and you can sue them for that.

The bad check I will assune was turned over to the police, and you have to go after the person who wrote the check in the most part, I doubt you have a claim against the person you cashed it for. You may getit, but I am doubtful

Also why do you want a lien against a car or house, that you can't ever get your money for unless they sell it. You want bank accounts or job garnishments if it is allowed

Hello C:

Seems to me you have more leverage with his probation officer. They don't need proof there to violate him and throw him in the slam. THAT'S where I'd be doing my complaining.

excon

Its not 1875 I gave him a total of 2875.
His probation officer as well as everyone investigating is willing to back me up in court about where he stated the check came from. I lost my car as a direct result of him saying the check source was different than what it really was.
I understand he got duped as well, but if he had told me the truth from the get go he may not have been and I most certainly would not have been duped.
I'm not looking to get more than what is owed I just want things fixed and all the hell that has happened as a result of him saying it was from a repair company and me trying to help a friend righted.

Oh and because the state did not want to press charges against me they could not press on him. In which case it makes it a civil matter and not something that would violate his probation

What I would be suing for is MY money I gave him from MY account for the check on the pretense that the check was from where he said it was from and it was good. The check is in the hands of the banks fraud department I can't sue the makers of the check because well.. no one knows who they are.

If you gavde hin $2875 then that's what you can sue for. I still feelyour losing the car is in indirect result and I think a court will agree.

oh and because the state did not want to press charges against me they could not press on him. in which case it makes it a civil matter and not something that would violate his probation


This makes no sense to you - he knowingly gave you a bad check (or did he?) and asked you to cash it. You had no fault here.

This makes no sense to you - he knowingly gave you a bad check (or did he?) and asked you to cash it. You had no fault here.
According to them from what he told them he thought the lottery was real and therefor did not know it was a bad check regardless of if he lied about where it came from

I think the prosecutors are aware that this scam is catching greedy dumb people all over the world (and I'm not including you, since you were doing a favor for a known friend and had been lied to about the source of the check. You were just too trusting). But this scam is well known and well publicized. So anyone falling for it has to be dumb and/or greedy.

So I suspect that's why they declined to prosecute.

according to them from what he told them he thought the lottery was real and therefor did not know it was a bad check regardless of if he lied about where it came from


You can only find out how Small Claims Court will rule by actually going to Small Claims Court and filing against him for everything you think he owes you. Please then come back and let us know how the Court decides.

Everything from here on in is guessing on my part.