No, these were not unknowing actions. First-time .. and sometimes even second- and third-time bouncers .. received counseling and, usually in the third-time scenario, non-judicial/company-level punishment. These were people who, over a period of time, went from bank to bank, opening accounts with small amounts of money, received their checkbooks, and then proceeded to write large amounts of checks against nothing in their account.
I just thought it was always amusing that their first statement to investigators was "I still had checks left, so I thought I could use them".
If this is the case, they surely deserve to be court-martialed, plus dishonorable discharge from the service