You are guilty of First Degree Forgery, NY PL 170.15, or any degree of Forgery, if you have the intent to defraud or deceive another person and you falsely make, complete or alter a written instrument.
Falsifying documents can have both civil and criminal consequences, and may be punishable as a felony. The criminal penalties for falsifying documents can include fines and jail time, depending on the circumstances. The crime of falsifying documents is prosecuted under fraud statutes.
Added effective November 1, 1986.
Simply, if you delete, alter or make a false entry in the business records of an enterprise and you do so with the intent to defraud, you have run afoul of the misdemeanor crime. If when you do so, you also have the intent to further or conceal another criminal offense, then you have committed the felony crime.
§ 175.10 Falsifying business records in the first degree. another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof. Falsifying business records in the first degree is a class E felony.
Second-degree possession generally refers to forged instruments with moderate value but are not as serious as first-degree offenses. Examples might include: Forged checks or credit card receipts. driver's licenses or state IDs.
Falsifying business records is also a crime in other states, such as Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Oregon. In Maine, a similar crime is called falsifying private records.
What is Forgery Under Federal Law? Title 18, Section 471 of the United States Code defines this federal crime as: “Anyone, with intent to defraud, who falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, or alters any obligation or other security of the United States is guilty of a federal offense.”
A person is guilty of forgery in the third degree when, with intent to defraud, deceive or injure another, he falsely makes, completes or alters a written instrument. Forgery in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.