Toni Braxton's sister

  Sister2Sister (Jamie): What happened with the forgery charges?
Towanda: It's so crazy, Auntie Jamie. You know it's been blown out. What happened was, I'm trying to sing rock alternative music and a friend of mine was trying to help me. So he was like, 'Hey, I have a check for you,' and I was like, 'Oh, okay.' Picked up the check, went and cashed the check, come to find out the check was stolen.
S2S: What was the check for? To help you out?
Towanda: To help me because I've bee working with this producer. So, to help me fund it. That's what happened.
S2S: Did they drop the charges?
Towanda: Oh no. Well, I don't have a court date or anything like that just yet. The way that it happened was I have a friend who owns a bonding company and she's the one who called me and told me what was going on, because I had no idea. She told me I had a bond and all that stuff, so it was more or less me turning myself in. Andre (Towanda's husband) went and took care of the bond. I was only in there about two and a half hours. I was in a holding cell by myself and all that, so it was really speedy.
S2S: What was that like? She called you and told you that the check was forged?
Towanda: No, she owns her own bonding company and she called me and told me basically, that my name was hot. You know basically that she heard that there was a warrant out.
S2S: Wait a minute, the check was to you?
Towanda: To me.
S2S: But this person who was supposed to be your 'friend'...
Towanda: Right, I've known him for about three years.
S2S:.....stole the check from whom?
Towanda: From where he worked.
S2S: Oh, he took it from a business?
Towanda: Yes, exactly. It was a business name and address and everything on it.
S2S: And it said that? "To Towanda Braxton."
Towanda: To Towanda Braxton-Carter.
S2S: So that was okay for you to think that......?
Towanda: Right, because I mean, I've known him for three years. I never thought that any of my friends or my associates would ever do anything like that.
S2S: Have you talked to him?
Towanda: No, I haven't spoken to him.
S2S: He hasn't reached out to you?
Towanda: Uh uh.
S2S: So what happened? You signed the check....?
Towanda: I cashed it.
S2S: So it was like a thousand dollars or something like that?
Towanda: Oh no, it was almost four thousand dollars. So because I signed the check that's why it's forgery in the first degree because it was my name that I signed. And that's why it's theft by receiving--because I received a stolen check. So that's what it is. They said it's going to be about three to six months before my court date, but even before my court date I'm going to go ahead and take care of everything so I can get restitution before it even happens.

S2S: Well I want to people to understand what really happened. Because it sounds like you forged somebody's check or something.
Towanda: That's another thing: there's so many definitions of forgery. Forgery isn't just you signing someone else's name, it's you signing your own name to something that doesn't really exist. So that's what happened.
S2S: So your girlfriend called you and said your name was hot? What did you say, "What do you mean, hot?"
Towanda: I was like, "Hot?" You know? What do you mean? She was like, "You know word is out that...." She has a lot of cop friends because she owns her own bonding company. They were like, "Your girl got a warrant out." And she was like, "Who?" They told her and she was like, "Uh uh, you're kidding!" They told her what the charges were, they told her what happened, and she called me and told me. It's good to know people in different areas because it helps you out. It really does. I really, really, really appreciate her because she helped me out. Her bonding company is in a different county, so she just did a co-op and it happened in a matter of hours.
S2S: What's a co-op?
Towanda: That's when you don't have your bonding license in that specific county so you go along with someone who has a valid bonding license in that county.
S2S: So, she put up your bond money for you?
Towanda: Andre paid the bonding. And it was only--well, I can't say only--but my bond was $5,600. Of course you take like 12% of that, so it was like $800 and some change.

S2S: What did the cops say when you turned yourself in?
Towanda: They were very nice to me. They were extremely nice. I mean, it was like a fast assembly line. The sergeant came out and told them to go ahead and expedite my file. You know, they put me in a holding cell by myself. Of course I had to go through doing the paperwork.
S2S: Were you frightened?
Towanda: Hmmmmm, no. I didn't feel that I was guilty so I wasn't scared for frightened or anything.
S2S: Did they go after your friend?
Towanda: I have no idea.
S2S: Have you tried to call him?
Towanda: No, because my thing is, I'm trying to clear me. After I clear me, then I'll reach out and do what I have to do with him. But right now I need to just get this off my shoulders.