Signature impersonation: characteristics
Signature usurpation is an offense punishable by the Penal Code (article 441-1). It is constituted by a fraudulent alteration of the truth, with a view to causing harm to a person by the falsification of a writing or the use of a signature.
The legislator requires the justification of a damage and a moral element to qualify the usurpation of signature. Thus, the usurpation or imitation of a signature, by hand or via electronic media, constitutes a forgery in writing. But this forgery is only punishable if it is constitutive of a title: payslip, check, offer of consumer or real estate loan, etc. The penal legislator does not qualify all documents as false and case law verifies that the documents in question constitute rights or not.
This falsification and alteration of the truth must have caused harm to the victim to be legally punished. This damage can be material, financial, or even moral. The harm can be both actual and contingent.
The offense thus constituted cannot be a simple drafting error in an act, but a voluntary and conscious alteration of the truth. The author must have acted knowingly, knowingly. In legal practice, handwriting expertise is often required to constitute effective evidence.
If a person has doubts, believes that his signature has been usurped on a check or on an official document, he must quickly protect himself and file a complaint with the police or gendarmerie services. She can also be assisted by a lawyer who will seize the criminal court, because an offense of forgery in writing has a limitation period of six years.
Penalties for signature usurpation
The usurpation of signature is an offense which is punishable by the Penal Code when it is a forgery in private writing (falsification of a document drawn up by an individual, or under private seal) or a special forgery (falsification of a document drawn up by an administrative or ministerial authority).
The perpetrator of the offense thus characterized risks a 3-year prison sentence and a fine of up to 45,000 euros, all of which may be increased if there are aggravating circumstances. If it is a usurpation of signature on a document issued by a public administration for the purpose of establishing a right, a quality or granting an authorization (driver’s licence, passport, identity card, etc.) , the author of the usurpation incurs up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
The legislator also considered the cases of usurpation of signature of acts drawn up by public officers (such as notaries) or the falsification of a diploma. If the usurpation of signature is committed by an individual, he may be punished by 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 150,000 euros. If this offense is committed by a person holding public authority or charged with a public service mission acting in the exercise of his functions, the penalties are then criminal in nature. Its author risks 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 225,000 euros.
