Unknown individuals counterfeited payroll checks from my company. They were for amounts of 300 to 500 dollars, on 25 checks with fake names on each check. They then reproduced about 10 sets of the counterfeit checks. The check security features were facially invalid (heat sensor did not work, poor watermark, signature line and borders blurred etc.) They cashed most of these at check cashing agencies or small local stores. However $15,000 worth they cashed directly at my bank's main branch office.
My bank has debited my account for the checks they cashed to the scam artists and then asked me to take my business elsewhere. The checks from the small stores and check
cashing agencies, they refused to acknowledge. What are my rights and remedies? What UCC code section applies?
Contact an attorney. There are a lot of gray areas in the UCC provisions governing bank and depositor rights and responsibilities when it comes to counterfeit or forged checks.
The UCC starts by assigning responsibility to the bank for honoring a forged signature; however, there are provisions that can shift responsibility back to the depositor if the depositor contributed to the loss, and of course, rules allowing the depositor to escape or share that liability if the bank didn't use ordinary care in paying the checks.
Most of the rules are in section 4-406 of the UCC. After you read them, you'll see why problems like yours are often negotiated rather than dragged out in court.
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Contact an attorney. There are a lot of gray areas in the UCC provisions governing bank and depositor rights and responsibilities when it comes to counterfeit or forged checks. 