Experienced Philadelphia Theft and Property Crimes Attorney

Theft occurs when a person takes the property, money or services of another without legal right and with the intention of depriving that person of one of those items.

Taking a property from its rightful owner with the intent to deny the owner of its value is theft by deception. This involves intentionally obtaining or keeping the property from its rightful owner through deception which can be done by creating a false impression or preventing an owner from discovering important information or even failing to correct the false impression.

This crime involves intentionally receiving, keeping, or disposing of property you know or have good reason to believe was stolen.

Bouncing a check by accident is not considered a criminal act. If a person knowingly writes a bad check, however, knowing there are insufficient funds, criminal charges may be brought depending on the value of the check. The seriousness of the criminal charge will depend on the amount of the check. A check in the amount of less than two hundred dollars is considered a summary offense. While checks in the amount of $200 to $75,000 are misdemeanors, and if the check is more than $75,000 the charge becomes a felony.

Under Pennsylvania law, a person can be convicted of forgery if he alters any writing without permission, makes complete or authenticates the transfer of any writing so it appears to be the act of another person or uses a writing he knows to be a forgery, all with the intent to injure or defraud someone. Common types of forgery involve misuse of credit cards, electronic signatures, use of false identification and fabrication of contracts or other commercial documents. A forgery could be charged as both a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the type of instrument being forged.

A person could be charged and convicted of retail theft if he or she takes away store merchandise or causes that merchandise that is offered for sale to be carried away without paying for the item. Retail theft can also be charged in cases where price tags have been altered or swapped or store security tags have been removed or destroyed. The retail theft charges become increasingly more serious as the amount of the value of the property increases together with any prior retail theft convictions. In cases where the merchandise is less than 150 dollars on a first-time offense the charge is a summary. Where the value is between 150 to $1000 dollars, the charge may rise to a first-degree misdemeanor. If the merchandise is worth more than $1,000 dollars, a person may be charged with a felony. In addition, cases where a person has multiple prior convictions for retail theft, a new case may be charged as a felony.