HALL, Judge.
The defendant appeals from three convictions for passing forged checks for each of which he was convicted by the jury and sentenced for two years with a recommendation for misdemeanor punishment, the trial court entering a sentence of 12 months on each conviction.
The alleged criminal acts were passing checks "knowing the same to have been . . . forged." Code Ann. § 26-3910. Irrespective of other issues, the circumstantial evidence presented to prove the essential ingredient of the crime, that the defendant passed the checks or knew the checks were forged, was insufficient to exclude every reasonable hypothesis except the guilt of the accused. Therefore the conviction must be reversed. Code § 38-109; Harris v. State, 19 Ga. App. 741 ( 92 S.E. 224); Parise v. State, 92 Ga. App. 598 ( 89 S.E.2d 673); Purser v. State, 104 Ga. App. 728, 731 ( 122 S.E.2d 749); Brown v. State, 117 Ga. App. 827 ( 162 S.E.2d 254).
Judgment reversed. Bell, P. J., and Quillian, J., concur.
SUBMITTED SEPTEMBER 5, 1968 — DECIDED SEPTEMBER 16, 1968.