check kiting

check kiting, fraud committed against a banking institution in which access is gained to deposited funds in one account before they can be collected from another account upon which they are drawn. The scheme usually involves several checking accounts at several different banks. In effect, a bank deposits accessible money into an account while waiting for cash to be processed from an account at another bank when in actuality the other account holds no money.

An example of check kiting would be as follows: on Monday, a prospective check kiter deposits a $500 check from account A into account B and then shortly thereafter deposits a $500 check from account B into account A. On Tuesday, another round of deposits is made as well as some partial withdrawals. On Wednesday, one bank collects its monies from account A, while another collects its monies from account B. But there is no actual money in either account; instead, there is just a series of transfers of alleged funds back and forth between the two accounts.

The process of kiting is thus a form of shell game, in which the prize (the alleged cash balance) is moved from one shell to another. As the kiting process continues, the dollar amount rises as well as the number of accounts. Only when the process is halted, either by an alert banking institution or by the kiter, is it discovered that no monies exist.

Indications of a potential check-kiting operation include the following: (1) several accounts owned, or controlled, by the same individual, (2) identifiable patterns of transactions, including deposits, transfers, and withdrawals between those accounts, (3) deposits drawn on other institutions by the same holder of the accounts that the funds are being deposited to, and (4) frequent inquiries into account balances, collected items, and cleared items.