Before I say anything, if this counts as r/legaladvice material, let me know and I will post it there instead. I'm just unsure of where to go or what to do at this point. I've created this throwaway account because I'm sure that nothing of what is going on here is legal, and I'm afraid that because my identity and credit is attached to it, I could face serious legal and financial trouble for things I was not aware of. I'm only 19 so I'm pretty fucking ignorant as to what is going on and how I could put a stop to it.
about a month and a half ago, my father asked me to open up a private checking account at a different bank to "park money into." He is a business owner, and routinely put money into my personal checking account at the bank I've used for over 6 years. These transfers were anywhere between $2,000-$20,000. I suspect that money was for payroll, which I recently learned is illegal to do through a personal checking account. After they changed their transfer policy, he asked me to accompany him to a new bank where I would open up another private checking account under my name and he could put money into "To build my credit". I was suspicious, but optimistic. he also told me he wanted to put my name on the LLC of his company. He did not give me a reason why. He ended up not doing that. Then, a few days later, I received a call from the new bank saying that my account was shut down and that they no longer had interest in doing business with me. The account was 4 days old, so naturally, I was suspicious. My father told me that the bank was "run by assholes" and that he did nothing wrong, as there was a paper trail and all transactions were legal. This was a lie, as I heard him talking to his business partner about not being able to make payroll because the bank shut down the account and he wouldn't be able to get the cash for 2 weeks. After that, we went to another bank to open a business account (again under my name), wherein he would operate payroll out of. After asking him for full disclosure of what he was doing with an account under my name, and what he plans to do, he told me that I didn't know what "Disclosure" meant and that I should stop using words that I did not know the meaning to. At first, he asked me to pre-write my name on a bunch of checks so he could pay people. He does not tell me the dollar amount of these checks, and does not tell me who they are written out to and what for. I have been called from the bank and asked what these charges are, and I can't tell them because I do not know. I am 100% sure he is forging my signature for these checks.
After hearing that, I threatened to close down the account (after he payed the $500 fee for opening an LLC), and it was an entire thing. He kept trying to instill confidence in me, telling me that he knew what he was doing, and that no damage would come to me financially or legally, as there was no illegal activity. However, I know someone who sees every check he writes, every statement, and knows everything and anything about what he's doing and told me that 2 checks bounced in the last week because he didn't have enough money in the account. They are the one telling me about what to do and how I can protect myself, but there are other things at stake besides my credit. I also hear a lot of dirt on him that, ordinarily, I would not want to hear. I checked my FICO score a month ago, and it was 624. Now I am afraid to check it (and can't, as my bank can't access it for some reason) because for all I know, it could be a lot lower than that now that he has been running amok with it. I am also not the only person he has done this to. For my entire life, my mother has told me about how he "screwed her over" and 'Ruined her credit" because he tried the same thing with her. Thinking back on it now, I see exactly what she was talking about. I am not aware if he has opened any credit cards under my name without my knowledge, and I routinely see that he charges personal expenses to that business account. Pet supplies, car payments, drinks at a bar that he frequents on a daily basis (Oh, and he's a serious alcoholic. I probably should have mentioned that earlier). I'm not very knowledgable of this subject, but even I know that is a big no-no and could land me in hot water if the IRS came knocking.
I suspect the reason for all this is that his business is failing, his credit sucks, and he has creditors and debtors after him for several thousand dollars, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars, so he does business under my name to hide from all of that. If this is true, which I think it is, I want out of all this. I am only 19, and cannot have any of this on my record. It would ruin my credit, and possibly get me thrown in prison.
I know the rational thing to do is ask him about it, but i've tried that before and instead I was laughed at and disrespected. I would close down the LLC and remove my name from everything, but I still live under his roof, and he pays for things like my car, my food, tuition and textbooks etc. he would surely kick me out, and let all of those payments fall onto me, which I cannot pay for as I am a full-time student and only have a part time job. He has me by the balls, and it's starting to seem like some damage is already done, the type of damage I don't think I could recover from. What do I do?
TL;DR: My father may be using me to save his business, at the cost of my credit and could land me in serious legal trouble.
Submitted June 14, 2018 at 11:28AM by Burnerdad https://ift.tt/2JUBejV
