Philippine Law

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND LEGAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS

26-50 TRUE OR FALSE (Anti_Bouncing Checks Law (BP#22)

26. Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code which punishes for estafa a person who issues a check in payment of an obligation when he had no funds in the bank sufficient to cover the amount of the check. The failure to deposit the amount to cover the check within three days from receipt of notice of dishonor shall be prima facie evidence of deceit. 27. The phrase "in payment of an obligation * means that the check should not be issued in payment of a pre- existing obligation. 28. When a check was issued in payment of a debt contracted prior to such issuance, there is no estafa as deceit should be the efficient cause of the defraudation. 29. When postdated checks are issued and intended only as promissory notes, there is no estafa. 30. Estafa is punishable by penalties of imprisonment ranging from 2 months to 8 years depending on the amount of the fraud. 31. An offender can be held liable under both Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code and BP 22. 32. The prosecution in a BP 22 case must establish that (a) NoD was sent to the issuer of the dishonored check and (b) that the same was actually received by the maker or drawer of the dishonored check. 33. Failure to establish that a written NoD was actually received by the maker or drawer of the check is a ground for an acquittal. 34. A NoD be sent to the maker or drawer of the dishonored check by (1) by personal service upon the issuer or (2) by registered mail. 35. If the NoD is sent by registered mail, the fact of sending the NoD is established by the registry receipt, the registry return card, and an affidavit executed by the person who mailed the NoD detailing the circumstances of the mailing. 36. As to establishing actual receipt, the prosecution must also prove that the signature appearing on the registry return card or NoD, in case of personal service, belongs to that of the issuer of the dishonored check or, at the very least, to his duly authorized agent. In the latter case, the prosecution must establish the capacity and authority of such person as agent. 37. An illegible signature, such as when a recipient merely signs his/ her initials on the registry return card or notice of dishonor, as the case may be, does not prove that the issuer actually received the NOD. 38. It is also crucial that the registry return card or the NoD indicate the date it was received in order to fix the start of the five (5) day period within which the maker or drawer of the check must pay or make arrangements for the payment of the amount of the check. 39. The NoD may be sent to the office of the maker or drawer of the dishonored check but he must receive the notice personally or through his authorized agent. 40. A corporation or an officer of a corporation that receives a NoD addressed to one of its employees has no obligation to forward the notice to the employee concerned. Thus, such receipt is not the receipt contemplated by BP 22. 41. A NOD may also be sent to the residence of the maker or drawer of the dishonored check and received by him/her, the housemaids or houseboys who are deemed to have a special power-of-attorney to receive mail in behalf of the addressee, or any member of the family of sufficient age or discretion. 42. The NoD may be sent to, and received by, the maker or drawer of the dishonored check wherever he may be found as long as the fact and date of receipt are established. 43. Under the Rules on Summary Procedures, the Court shall not order the arrest of a person who was charged of BP 22 except for failure to appear in Court whenever required. 44. The NoD must be in writing. A mere oral notice to the drawer or maker of a check is not enough to convict him with violation of BP 22. 45. Violation of BP 22 is considered a crime involving moral turpitude, just like the crime of embezzlement, forgery, robbery and swindling. 46. No Hold Departure Orders can be issued against BP 22 violators. 47. Pursuing cases for BP 22 requires complainants to pay the corresponding filing fees. 48. An accommodation party is one who has signed the check without receiving value in exchange, and who issues the check for the purpose of lending his name to some other person. Even an Accommodation Party is liable under BP 22. 19. An accommodation party is still liable even though the holder of the check knew him to be only an accommodation party. 50. Any alleged violation of BP 22 pursued through the filing of a criminal complaint must be filed within four (4) years from the dishonor of the check, before the office of the public prosecutor