Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 267, § 1 (2026)

False or forged records, certificates, returns, attestations and other writings

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 1. Whoever, with intent to injure or defraud, falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits a public record, or a certificate, return or attestation of a clerk or register of a court, public register, notary public, justice of the peace, town clerk or any other public officer, in relation to a matter wherein such certificate, return or attestation may be received as legal proof; or a charter, deed, will, testament, bond or writing obligatory, power of attorney, policy of insurance, bill of lading, bill of exchange or promissory note; or an order, acquittance or discharge for money or other property or a credit card or an instrument described as a United States Dollar Traveller's Check or Cheque, purchased from a bank or other financially responsible institution, the purpose of which is a source of ready money on cashing the instrument without identification other than the signature of the purchaser; or an acceptance of a bill of exchange, or an endorsement or assignment of a bill of exchange or promissory note for the payment of money; or an accountable receipt for money, goods or other property; or a stock certificate, or any evidence or muniment of title to property; or a certificate of title, duplicate certificate of title, certificate issued in place of a duplicate certificate, the registration book, entry book, or any indexes provided for by chapter one hundred and eighty-five, or the docket of the recorder; shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or in jail for not more than two years.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 42 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1924–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Apalakis, 486 N.E.2d 669 (Mass. 1985).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. Apalakis, 486 N.E.2d 669 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 19× “Apalakis, for forgery of public records in violation of G. L. c. 267, § 1 (1984 ed.). Three indictments also were returned for violation of G.”

Commonwealth v. O'Connell, 783 N.E.2d 417 (Mass. 2003). · cites it 3× “O’Connell, appeals from five convictions each of forgery (G. L. c. 267, § 1), uttering (G. L. c. 267, § 5), and larceny over $250 (G.”

Commonwealth v. Muckle, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 384 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 5× “There, in the context of a civil malicious prosecution case, the court noted that a conviction of the plaintiff of the crime of forgery under G. L. c. 267, § 1, in a Municipal Court was beyond the jurisdiction of that court and did not establish conclusively that there had been…”

Powell v. Tompkins, 783 F.3d 332 (1st Cir. 2015). · cites it 2× “" Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 267, § 1 . According to the SJC: "The elements of the crime of forgery are (1) falsely making all or part of a document or instrument; (2) with the intent to defraud.”

Commonwealth v. Murphy, 797 N.E.2d 394 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 4× “266, § 37C); forgery of a record-return or writing (G. L. c. 267, § 1); uttering (G. L. c. 267, § 5); and falsifying or stealing a driver’s license (G.”

Commonwealth v. Katsirubis, 696 N.E.2d 147 (Mass. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 5× “56, § 11, the false making of a certificate of *135 nomination statute, prohibits the same conduct covered by G. L. c. 267, §§ 1 & 5, the subsequent false making statute impliedly repealed the application of the general forgery and uttering statutes.”

Commonwealth v. Balicki, 762 N.E.2d 290 (Mass. 2002). “266, § 67A; forgery in violation of G. L. c. 267, § 1; common law forgery; filing of false reports as public employees in violation of G.”

Commonwealth v. Levin, 417 N.E.2d 440 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). · cites it 2× “Indictments charging each of them except Jacobson with forgery (G. L. c. 267, § 1), uttering (G. L. c. 267, § 5), fraudulently obtaining signatures by false pretenses (G.”

Commonwealth v. Gelfgatt, 468 Mass. 512 (Mass. 2014). “On May 5, 2010, a State grand jury returned indictments charging the defendant with seventeen counts of forgery of a document, G. L. c. 267, § 1; seventeen counts of uttering a forged instrument, G.”

Commonwealth v. Johnson, 589 N.E.2d 328 (Mass. App. Ct. 1992). · cites it 2× “In each case, G. L. c. 267, § 1, which makes proffering false evidence a felony, acts as a sufficient deterrent.”

Carroll v. Gillespie, 436 N.E.2d 431 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). “7 See respectively G. L. c. 267, § 1; G. L. c. 267, § 5; G. L.”

Lima v. Lima, 570 N.E.2d 158 (Mass. App. Ct. 1991). · cites it 2× “The "clean hands" doctrine would not bar equitable relief; no harm is shown to have been done by the wife's (and her first attorney's) unlawful deletions from the deeds (as to which see G.L.c. 267, §§ 1, 5), and the relief she sought was not predicated on those acts or on her…”

Show all 42 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.