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2005 copyright symbol spoils $254,000 Clintonville scam

I love this story about a Clintonville woman who is now facing jail time for forgery and perjury.

It is a short article, but it reminds me of an actual true situation where I was inspecting the last will and testament of a person who had passed away.  The will was in the L.A. County Courthouse.  I was down there with my microscope and magnifying glass inspecting the will, and attached to the purported last will and testament was a notarized document with the copyright date of 2004.

It even had the website they downloaded the notary form from.  That did not jive with the fact that the signatures were all signed and notarized in 1999.  Now you don’t have to be a time traveler to understand that it’s not possible to sign a document that didn’t exist until six years later.  That’s what this article is saying.

So the moral of the story is if you’re going to forge a document, submit it to the court, and you’re going to sue somebody for $254,000 saying that they signed a promissory note, you should at least white out the copyright on the forms.

The point of the story is very simple.  As a handwriting expert you are also a document examiner.  In fact, you’re primarily a document examiner and secondly a handwriting expert.  As a document examiner you better notice the copyright, you better notice the staple holes, and you better be able to tell whether or not a document is a color photocopy or an original.  That’s your job.  Enjoy the article.

APPLETON — A Clintonville woman accused of forging documents that led to a $254,000 civil lawsuit will soon enter pleas to counts of forgery and lying while under oath.

Tammy M. Lowney, 41, waived her right to the remainder of her preliminary hearing Wednesday in Outagamie County Court on three forgery counts and two counts related to false testimony.

Attorneys started the hearing last month, but rescheduled due to time constraints.

The case stems from a 2006 Waupaca County lawsuit filed by the owners of Friendship Valley Dairy, Christopher and Mary Therese Gilling of Marion. The Gillings sued Steven and Malia Lowney, claiming the couple owed them the money as documented in 1999 and 2000 promissory notes carrying their signatures.

Appleton police Detective Neal Rabas testified last month to a copyright date of 2005 found on the forms used in creation of the notes. It didn’t jive with the contents of the contracts.

“The first note was signed in 1999,” Rabas said. “The second note was dated 2000.”

The Lowneys filed a counter suit in Outagamie County against the dairy company, the Gillings and Tammy Lowney, among others, claiming “a systematic campaign to destroy the Lowneys emotionally and to ruin them financially.”

Both civil cases have since been dismissed.

The false swearing charges against Tammy Lowney relate to testimony about the promissory notes she gave during depositions in one of the civil cases. Steven Lowney said his sister-in-law claimed the notes were authentic when she testified in the civil case.

Each of the five counts against her carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Read more: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110210/APC0101/102100561/Clintonville-woman-faces-multiple-forgery-charges#ixzz1EGr9YUio

More articles here: http://www.postcrescent.com