What is the penalty for writing a check on a closed account and how long does the issuer have to make restitution?
Do you mean criminal penalty, or civil? If you are asking about a criminal situtation, and if the transaction took place in CA, then the offense could be a felony. You could be sentenced to prison for up to three years. The difference between a closed account and an NSF “check fraud” case is that many, many people write nsf checks without knowing that their accounts were too low. In the situation you are asking about, a person would presumably know that his account was closed when he wrote the check. Therefore, he had the criminal intent to defraud. So, the penalty on the closed account: possible prison. Penalty on the NSF account: if check fraud was not involved, then I suppose the usual returned check fee from the bank and the fee from the merchant.
