10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 332, § 11-9
When an individual reports a check has been lost, stolen or destroyed prior to cashing, the agency has the responsibility to replace it. In the instances when there is reason to believe there has either been a forgery or duplicate checks have been received and cashed by the recipient, the following procedures have been established.
When the photocopy of the original check is sent to the OFI office, staff must meet face-to-face with the individual or Representative Payee to determine whether or not the signature is theirs. If the individual or Representative Payee states it is not, then a Forgery Affidavit will be completed (SWIM-052) and the original sent to FIR with a copy to Division of Financial and Personnel Services and a copy for the record. This initiates an investigation to determine who cashed the check.
If the individual or Representative Payee agrees that the signature on the original check is theirs, OFI staff may refer for fraud.
When a household presents a damaged check, which a bank refuses to cash, the worker will take the following steps:
10- 144 C.M.R. ch. 332, § 11-9