Filing false or forged official documents is a crime and probably the most common form of this is the filing of false real estate deeds or deeds of trust. Other examples would be filing a forged notarized deed transferring ownership of an elderly parent’s house to you and filing it with the county recorder’s office, a contractor, angry with his client, creates a false mechanic’s lien for money owed and files it with the county clerk or even a fisherman filing false fishing activity records with the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. Such acts are considered felony crimes in California and in most states.
In addition, filing false or fraudulent documents with government agencies (Penal Code 115 in California) will have immigration consequences since it will be deemed a crime of moral turpitude for non-citizen defendants. The elements of this crime are: you offered or caused a forged document for filing, recording or registration in a public office in the state, knew it was fraudulent, and the document, if genuine could have been filed, recorded or registered in a state government office.
Examples would be an individual going to a county clerk’s office, filing a deed that is signed, notarized and transfers some land owned by her mother to herself. The county clerk does not file this because the document appears to be suspicious and calls the police. Even though, the deed was not filed, she could still be arrested since she “offered” the deed to be recorded in a government office.
Another example would be if you “caused” a document to be filed—meaning you did not file the document yourself but hired or targeted people to do it on your behalf. The classic PC 115 crime involves real estate documents but in recent years, prosecutors have been relying on a wider variety of cases so long as the document is commonly filed or recorded with a government office.
For example, in some jurisdictions, filing a restraining order with the local law enforcement agency was the responsibility of the person requesting it. Today, courts and the prosecutor (in the criminal arena) have the responsibility of providing the order to the agency. But I had a case that involved a person “modifying” a temporary restraining order from the original court order and then filing it with the police agency. The police was suspicious of the altered order and arrested him for the crime of forgery. Another example is when a probationer files with the probation office proof of completion of community service that are false. The type of act that this crime covers is vast.
The hardest element to prove in this crime is knowledge. The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew the document was false or forged. Without knowledge, there is no guilt. There are other defenses that can be brought forward and should be if you are fighting this conviction. As for defendants who are non-U.S. citizens, the intent to defraud will be considered a crime of moral turpitude. The consequences could be deportation and may be deemed inadmissible which means you cannot re-enter the country after leaving, become a U.S. citizen, or apply for a green card. In addition, a crime of moral turpitude could impact professional licenses (lawyer, doctors, accountants).
Defending forgery crimes means considering all these factors and more so it is critical that even at the very earliest of investigation, calling a criminal defense attorney is necessary. If you have any questions, you may contact me at [email protected] or my office 310-601-7144.