What Is Forgery? Definition, Elements And Examples – Forbes Advisor – Technologist

A forgery is a false document of legal significance used to defraud someone else. Committing forgery is a crime. You can face consequences, including jail time, if you are knowingly involved with false printed or written materials. This is true even if you didn’t create the document. If you possess a document that you know is not accurate or true and use it to fool someone else, you could be charged in a criminal case.

Legal Definition of Forgery

Different statutes establish different legal definitions of forgery. For example:

• 18 U.S. Code Section 471 states that, “Whoever, with intent to defraud, falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, or alters any obligation or other security of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both.”
• 18 U.S. Code Section 513 makes it illegal to create, use or possess counterfeit securities of any state or political subdivision of a state, or to possess any forged security with the intent to deceive some other person or entity.

These are federal statutes. If you violate them, you could be charged with a federal crime and imprisoned for a long time. They prohibit not simply misdemeanor offenses but rather life-changing violations of the law.

States establish their own definitions of forgery as well. For example, in Pennsylvania Code Section 4101, forgery is defined as engaging in any of the following behaviors with intent to defraud or injure someone or to facilitate someone else causing fraud or injury:

• altering someone else’s writing without authority
• creating, completing, executing, authenticating, issuing or transferring any writing while pretending someone else took the action—despite the fact that the other person did not authorize you to do so
• creating, completing, executing, authenticating, issuing or transferring any writing while pretending this action was taken at an earlier time or place, or in a numbered sequence
• creating, completing, executing, authenticating, issuing or transferring anything pretending to be an original
• “uttering” or possessing or using any writing that you know to be forged in violation of this statute

Committing forgery could result in federal or state criminal charges, or potentially both.