Laws and Statutes

OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED

TITLE 16-Crimes and Offenses (Chs. 1 – 17)
CHAPTER 4-Forgery and Fraudulent Practices (Arts. 1 – 9)

Article 1, Forgery and Related Offenses (§§16-9-1 to 16-9-6)

§16-9-1. Forgery; Classification of forgery offenses.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) “Bank” means incorporated banks, savings banks, banking companies, trust companies, credit unions, and other corporations doing a banking business.
(2) “Check” means any instrument for the payment or transmission of money payable on demand and drawn on a bank.
(3) “Writing” includes, but shall not be limited to, printing or any other method of recording information, money, coins, tokens, stamps, seals, credit cards, badges, trademarks, and other symbols of value, right, privilege, or identification.

(b) A person commits the offense of forgery in the first degree when with the intent to defraud he or she knowingly makes, alters, or possesses any writing, other than a check, in a fictitious name or in such manner that the writing as made or altered purports to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority and utters or delivers such writing.

(c) A person commits the offense of forgery in the second degree when with the intent to defraud he or she knowingly makes, alters, or possesses any writing, other than a check, in a fictitious name or in such manner that the writing as made or altered purports to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority.

(d) A person commits the offense of forgery in the third degree when with the intent to defraud he or she knowingly:

(1) Makes, alters, possesses, utters, or delivers any check written in the amount of$1,500.00 or more in a fictitious name or in such manner that the check as made or altered purports to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority; or
(2) Possesses ten or more checks written without a specified amount in a fictitious name or in such manner that the checks as made or altered purport to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority.

(e) A person commits the offense of forgery in the fourth degree when with the intent to defraud he or she knowingly:

(1) Makes, alters, possesses, utters, or delivers any check written in the amount of less than$1,500.00 in a fictitious name or in such manner that the check as made or altered purports to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority; or

(2) Possesses less than ten checks written without a specified amount in a fictitious name or in such manner that the checks as made or altered purport to have been made by another person, at another time, with different provisions, or by authority of one who did not give such authority.

Annotations

If writing purports to have legal efficacy it may be the subject of forgery.

• Chambers v. State, 22 Ga. App. 748, 97 S.E. 256, 1918 Ga. App. LEXIS 735 (1918)(decided under former Penal Code 1910, § 231).

Knowledge that instrument is forged is essential ingredient of crime of uttering a forged instrument. Brown v. State, 117 Ga. App. 827, 162 S.E.2d 254, 1968 Ga. App.LEXIS 1252 (1968) (decided under former Code 1933, § 26-3910).

Lesser included offense not warranted in RICO prosecution. —

• As a defendant was only charged with racketeering, in violation of O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4(a), based on the predicate offense of forgery, in violation of O.C.G.A. §16-9-1, the defendant’s requested jury instruction of a lesser-included offense of forgery was properly denied by the trial court; if the jury had not found a “pattern of racketeering activity” under former paragraph (8)(a) of O.C.G.A. § 16-14-3, the jury could not have convicted the defendant of forgery.
• Redford v. State, 309 Ga. App. 118, 710 S.E.2d 197,2011 Ga. App. LEXIS 322 (2011).

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