back to home  back to crime 

Fraud by false representation

 

A person is guilty of fraud by false representation if he—

(a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and

(b) he intends, by making that representation—

(i) to make a gain for himself or another, or

(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

The word representation is an ordinary English word with no special legal meaning.

A representation may be express or implied.

In this case, you may think that it is simply a statement that something is true or has happened – e.g.  putting forward an internal invoice or contract stating that someone has ordered and paid for goods is a representation that they have done so.

A representation is made if it (or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without human intervention).

A representation is false if—

(a) it is untrue or misleading, and

(b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.

In this case, if the goods referred to in an internal invoice or contract were not ordered or sold to the customer named in the invoice or contract, the representation was false.

The word "dishonestly" bears its ordinary meaning.  You should decide whether you are sure that, according to the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people, what D** did was dishonest.  If you are sure that it was, you must also consider whether you are sure that he himself knew that what he was doing was dishonest.  If you are not sure that he was acting dishonestly, he is not guilty. 

with a view to gain for himself or another, or to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

Again, these are ordinary English words with no special legal meaning.

The prosecution case is that *** .  D**denies this.  He ****.  

So, the key questions for you to answer separately in relation to each count, having regard to all the evidence and the directions which I give you, are these

Was the *** false?

Was D*** dishonest?

Did he by *** intend to cause loss to the company?

If you are sure that the answers to all three questions are “yes”, he is guilty of the count you are considering.  If the answer to any question may be “no”, he is not guilty.