Fresno County, California

For the fiscal Year 07/01/2006 through 06/30/2007, the Fresno County District Attorney's N.S.F. Check Enforcement Unit returned $967,691.15 in restitution to victims of bad check writers.

Since the inception of the Unit in August 1988, over 18 MILLION DOLLARS has been returned to the victims of non-sufficient funds (NSF)/account closed checks.

In the State of California, writing an N.S.F. or account closed check with the intent to defraud is a crime by the authority of California Penal Code Section 476a(a).  The state legislature, however, allows for a Diversion Program at the County District Attorney level. 

The District Attorney has the discretion to implement and operate the Diversion Program, which allows an alternative to criminal prosecution if the bad check writer meets certain criteria and agrees to full restitution, payment of all administrative fees, attendance at a Diversion class and ceases to write bad checks.

As of June 30, 2007, 11,866 individuals had attended the Unit's Diversion class (a half-day course covering the law, balancing checkbooks, budgeting and other pertinent topics).

The Unit also addresses the growing problem of "hardcore" criminals.  Through June 30, 2007, 4,901 felons had been arrested for writing bad checks in Fresno County.

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