Don't Put Us In the Middle of Your Shit!

[BrenDAnn]

Ugh.. an ongoing saga, this one. A husband and wife duo who are regulars of ours seem to be going through some... insanely tough times. Long story short, husband got caught doing some illegally pervy things, and wife has since lost her shit and declares her vile hate of husband every chance she gets. For a while, wife was bringing in blank checks that husband would give her to buy things, and writing them for extra, just to spite him. Husband figured out what she was doing, and started making the checks out himself for certain amounts before he handed them to her. What did batshit crazy wife do? Start changing the amounts on the checks when she came to the store! "To hell with him!" she'd exclaim, "He pisses me off anyway!"

Fast forward to today. Husband came in, with a photocopy of some of the altered checks. Wife's game is over. There is now a note up saying NOT to let her alter the checks at all. Just as well. We don't need to be dragged into the middle of their crazy shit anyway. For those wondering why wife doesn't just leave husband, I think the motive there is money. She keeps telling us she's just waiting for him to leave so she can get her half of what she's owed or whatever. I mean, she has gone so far as to turn his computer over to the po0lice in hopes they'd find something there to bust him for. Bat. Shit. Insane. Nope, don't want anything to do with that at all!

[RealUnimportant]

What a charming couple!

If her name's on the cheques, then how can you legally refuse? And if her name's not on the cheques, why was someone accepting them after alteration?

[crazylegs]

Hang on, isn't altering a cheque fraud..?

[BrenDAnn]

You know, I had the thought about it being fraud myself. I do believe that it is at least against corporate policy for us to accept altered checks-- but there is managerial discretion, I guess. A lot of rules at CStore seem to have managerial discretion, actually. I'd love to be there when the wife comes in with another check and tries to alter the amount and finds out we won't let her anymore. The shit will hit the proverbial fan, I'm sure. In any case, I blame this one on my please-everyone-non-confrontational manager more than anything. She's the one that ok'd it to happen in the first place!

[raudf]

Gotta go with RealUnimportant, because I thought only those whose names were on the check could alter it.. and if I recall, not that extremely either. Fixing a date, sure. Fixing two lines on the check? Might as well rewrite it!

What a... marriage. If he doesn't trust her with the money (and very apparently with reason), he should have cashier checks written to the establishment. That would REALLY hamstring her and keep your company outta their mess!

And dear dustbunnies, I thought the idea of preparing for a divorce was to look like you were the SANE one, thus to be pitied! Not the crazy-train that got derailed before they could hit the station at Nuttier-Than-Squirrel-Poo! If he's smart (and well lawyered) he's just letting her create her USA wide paper trail before filing for divorce. He may have fooled around, but he's not the potential threat of bodily harm in the relationship! (At least that's how he'll play it up for the court and she's helping him!)

[Silent-Hunter]

Hang on, isn't altering a cheque fraud..?

I think the checks were written in her name. I'm pretty sure it's legal to alter a check with your own name on it.

[taxguykarl]

Just as well. We don't need to be dragged into the middle of their crazy shit anyway.

I hate it when couples drag us into their nonsense.
Last year, a couple came into the tax office and the wife requested all of their prior returns (the husband was still looking for a place to park) because she was planning to file for a divorce. More fun to look forward to this season.

[RealUnimportant]

I think the checks were written in her name. I'm pretty sure it's legal to alter a check with your own name on it.

Are you implying that I could write you a cheque for $20, and it would be legal for you to alter it to say I'm giving you $200? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it's not.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Are you implying that I could write you a cheque for $20, and it would be legal for you to alter it to say I'm giving you $200? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it's not.

I think he meant to say that the checks have her name on them (as in they are drawn from a bank account that is in both of their names.)

[BrenDAnn]

That's what he meant, and that's what's happened. Her name is on the account as far as I'm aware, but not on the checks themselves, if that makes any sense. As a sidenote, the husband came in today and seemed a bit more upbeat, I think. It's hard to tell with him sometimes.

[Gilhelmi]

Is it legal for a wife to give the husbands computer too the police? Is it legal for them to search through it (as she is not the owner, they would need a warrant)?

It might be legal, but that sounds fishy too me.

On another note, I am afraid to ask this. What was the idiot pervy husband caught doing?

[Silent-Hunter]

I think he meant to say that the checks have her name on them (as in they are drawn from a bank account that is in both of their names.)

That is what I meant, yes.

[BrenDAnn]

He exposed himself to some poor girls who were working at a restaurant of female royal name. Not the first time he's done it, either, from what I understand. He's one of those guys that wears super short shorts and nothing underneath, too. He claims he didn't know that *it* was hanging out at the time. Everyone else is calling malarkey, because everyone in town knows him.

ETA: I think the wife had contacted the police a while back to get them started toward taking the computer. I would think they had to get a warrant and all that, since it took a bit to do.

[Dreamstalker]

Is it legal for a wife to give the husbands computer too the police? Is it legal for them to search through it (as she is not the owner, they would need a warrant)?

If nothing on the computer is shared, then I don't think it's legal. Exigent circumstances might make it legal (high probability of evidence on a computer being deleted or altered), but they would need to see something on the computer without touching or moving anything (plain view doctrine).

ETA with above post: That makes sense. If the wife suspects there's badness on the computer, she can contact the police (they might be looking at him more closely anyway after the exposure incident, especially if it's not his first time).

[Firecrackers Not Included]

wife suspects there's badness on the computer

Thank you for this vocabulary usage. My evening happiness level is up several points now