a temporary hold, corporations may be granted immediate access to funds, which can make the scheme go unnoticed. This was the case with E. F. Hutton & Co. in the early 1980s. Legal implications of check kiting Check kiting is illegal in many countries. However, most countries do not have a float system and checks are not paid until they are cleared, so check kiting is impossible. United States According to the United States Department of Justice, check kiting can be prosecuted under several existing laws including those against bank fraud (), misapplication (), or required entries (). It can draw a fine of up to $1,000,000.00, imprisonment for up to 30 years, or both, and many first-time offenders with no criminal background have received stiff sentences. In addition to the federal penalties, state law often provides for alternate civil and criminal consequences. Although the United States prosecutes some paper hangers under federal law, most issuance of bad checks in the United States is prosecuted as a state offense. Laws vary from state to state, but one example is Ohio Revised Code 2913.11(2)(B), which states: "No person, with purpose to defraud, shall issue or transfer or cause to be issued or transferred a check or other negotiable instrument, knowing that it will be dishonored or knowing that a person has ordered or will order stop payment on the check or other negotiable instrument". Ordinarily, passing a bad check in Ohio is a misdemeanor, but large checks or multiple checks within a six-month period aggregating to large amounts make it a 5th-, 4th-, or 3rd-degree felony, depending on the amounts involved. Some states protect the careless by making the intent to defraud an element of the crime, or exempting from punishment those that pay the check later. For example, Indiana's check deception statute states that it is a defense if the person issuing the check "pays the payee or holder the amount due, together with protest fees and any service fee or charge, ... within ten (10) days after the date of mailing by the payee or holder of notice to the person that the check, draft, or order has not been paid by the credit institution." Furthermore, it is not a crime if "the payee or holder knows that the person has insufficient funds to ensure payment or that the check, draft, or order is postdated", or "insufficiency of funds