Falsifying business records; defense · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 175.15 Falsifying business records; defense.
In any prosecution for falsifying business records, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant was a clerk, bookkeeper or other employee who, without personal benefit, merely executed the orders of his employer or of a superior officer or employee generally authorized to direct his activities.
A defendant charged with falsifying business records has an affirmative defense if the defendant was a clerk, bookkeeper, or other employee who received no personal benefit and merely followed an employer’s or authorized superior’s orders. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.