CREDIT CARD FRAUD—CREDIT CARD THEFT—N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6
Credit Card Fraud – If you have been charged with violation of 2C:21-6 you need to know that this is a serious criminal offense exposing you to jail time up to 5 years per Count, criminal record, fines up to $15,000.00 per Count. I have 26 plus years experience handling criminal violations in New Jersey and can help you avoid possible conviction, jail time, criminal record, max fines. Please contact me at (732)-337-7922 for an evaluation of your circumstances and vigorous and competent representation.
WHAT SORT OF CONDUCT CONSTITUTES THE OFFENSE:
You are employed by your rich uncle as a pool boy, gardener and housecleaner. He drives a Bentley, vacations in the Hamptons, lives off his investments and jokingly refers to you as “Jeeves”. He pays you minimum wage and has refused to entertain your request for a much needed raise. One day as you are detailing his Bentley, you find his wallet in the vehicle. The wallet contains a platinum master card. Your resentment overwhelms you and suddenly you see an opportunity to get the money from him you feel he owes you for your efforts. Without his knowledge or consent, you take possession of the card, and you present it to a merchant for the purchase of an Apple(5)-I phone. Whew! The sale goes through and you leave the store with your new computer. Unbeknownst to you, your rich uncle has called the police and has filed a complaint alleging credit card theft. Have you just committed a serious crime?
THE ACTUAL LAW
a. “Definitions. As used in this section:
(1) “Cardholder” means the person or organization named on the face of a credit card to whom or for whose benefit the credit card is issued by the issuer.
(2) “Credit card” means any tangible or intangible instrument or device issued with or without fee by an issuer that can be used, alone or in connection with another means of account access, in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value on credit, including credit cards, credit plates, account numbers, or any other means of account access.
(3) “Expired credit card” means a credit card which is no longer valid because the terms shown either on it or on documentation provided to the cardholder by the issuer has elapsed.
(4) “Issuer” means the business organization or financial institution which
issues a credit card or its duly authorized agent.
(5) “Receives” or “receiving” means acquiring possession or control or
accepting a credit card as security for a loan.
(6) “Revoked credit card” means a credit card which is no longer valid because
permission to use it has been suspended or terminated by the issuer.
b. False statements made in procuring issuance of credit card. A person who
makes or causes to be made, either directly or indirectly, any false statement in
writing, knowing it to be false and with intent that it be relied on, respecting his
identity or that of any other person, firm or corporation, or his financial condition
or that of any other person, firm or corporation, for the purpose of procuring the
issuance of a credit card is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
c. Credit card theft.
(1) A person who takes or obtains a credit card from the person, possession,
custody or control of another without the cardholder’s consent or who, with knowledge that it has been taken, receives the credit card with intent
to use it or sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. Taking a credit card without consent includes obtaining it by any conduct defined and prescribed in Chapter 20 of this title, Theft and Related Offenses.
A person who has in his possession or under his control (a) credit cards issued in names of two or more other persons, or (b) two or more stolen credit cards is presumed to have violated this paragraph.
(2) A person who receives a credit card that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the identity or address of the cardholder, and who retains possession with intent to use it or to sell it or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
(3) A person other than the issuer who sells a credit card or a person who buys a credit card from a person other than the issuer is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
(4) A person who, with intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, obtains control over a credit card as security for debt is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
(5) A person who, with intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, falsely makes or falsely embosses a purported credit card or utters such a credit card is guilty of a third degree offense. A person other than the purported issuer who possesses two or more credit cards which are falsely made or falsely embossed is presumed to have violated this paragraph. A person “falsely makes” a credit card when he makes or draws, in whole or in part, a device or instrument which purports to be the credit card of a named issuer but which is not such a credit card because the issuer did not authorize the making or drawing, or alters a credit card which was validly issued. A person “falsely embosses” a credit card when, without the authorization of the named issuer, he completes a credit card by adding any of the matter, other than the signature of the cardholder, which an issuer requires to appear on the credit card before it can be used by a cardholder.
(6) A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by him who, with intent to defraud the issuer, or a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, signs a credit card, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. A person who possesses two or more credit cards which are so signed is presumed to have violated this paragraph.
d. Intent of cardholder to defraud; penalties; knowledge of revocation. A person who, with intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, (1) uses for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value a credit card obtained or retained in violation of subsection c. of this section or a credit card which he knows is forged, expired or revoked, or (2) obtains money, goods, services or anything else of value by representing without the consent of the cardholder that he is the holder of a specified card or by representing that he is the holder of a card and such card has not in fact been issued, is guilty of a crimeof the third degree. Knowledge of revocation shall be presumed to have been received by a cardholder four days after it has been mailed to him at the address set forth on the credit card or at his last known address by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and, if the address is more than 500 miles from the place of mailing, by air mail. If the address is located outside the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone or Canada, notice shall be presumed to have been received 10 days after mailing by registered or certified mail.
e. Intent to defraud by person authorized to furnish money, goods, or services; penalties.
(1) A person who is authorized by an issuer to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card by the cardholder, or any agent or employees of such person, who, with intent to defraud the issuer or the cardholder, furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card obtained or retained in violation of subsection c. of this section or a credit card which he knows is forged, expired or revoked violates this paragraph and is guilty of a crime of the third degree.
(2) A person who is authorized by an issuer to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card by the cardholder, fails to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value which he represents in writing to the issuer that he has furnished is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
f. Incomplete credit cards; intent to complete without consent. Any person other than the cardholder possessing two or more incomplete credit cards, with intent to complete them without the consent of the issuer or a person possessing, with knowledge of its character, machinery, plates or any other contrivance designed to reproduce instruments purporting to be the credit cards of an issuer who has not consented to the preparation of such credit cards, is guilty of a crime of the third degree. A credit card is “incomplete” if part of the matter other than the signature of the cardholder , which an issuer requires to appear on the credit card, before it can be used by a cardholder, has not yet been stamped, embossed, imprinted or written on it.
g. Receiving anything of value knowing or believing that it was obtained in violation of subsection d. of N.J.S.2C:21-6. A person who receives money, goods, services or anything of value obtained in violation of subsection d. of this section knowing or believing it was so obtained is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. A person who obtains at a discount price a ticket issued by an airline, railroad, steamship or other transportation company which was acquired n violation of subsection d. of this section without reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person from whom it was obtained had a legal right to possess it shall be presumed to know that such ticket was acquired under circumstances constituting a violation of subsection d. of this section.
The answer to the question is YES. You have committed a fourth degree crime under section c. which will be elevated to a third degree crime under section d. because you intended to use and actually did use the card to obtain goods. State v. Robinson, A-6249-05T46249-05T4 (App. Div. 2006); State v. Falco, A-1745-08T41745-08T4 (App. Div. 2009)
Your exposure, if convicted, for a third degree crime would be the imposition of monetary fines up to $15,000.00, plus jail time of not less than three (3) years nor more than five (5) years per count, presumptive four (4) years, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-3(b), plus a criminal record. For a fourth degree crime you would be exposed to the imposition of monetary fines up to $10,000.00 plus jail time of a minimum of one (1) year and a maximum of eighteen (18) months, plus a criminal record. N.J.S.A. 43-3(b)
If you have been charged with violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6, you need to know that this is a serious crime involving possible jail time. You need to retain the services of a skilled and experienced attorney to obtain a downgrade or acquittal immediately.
