Dishonest Offences
The “Gift” Credit Card
Case in Brief:
Jaycee and his friend, Hayden, found a lost wallet. They thought it was an opportune gift, but instead, the wallet is leading them into trouble.
Offences discussed
Q & A
Jaycee and Hayden picked up the wallet and took away the items inside the wallet. What crimes have they committed? What punishment they are likely to face?
Applying ordinary standards of honesty, Jaycee and Hayden should have alerted the customer that he had dropped his wallet. Alternatively they should have handed the dropped wallet to a member of the staff of the restaurant or taken it to a police station.
They should know they have no right to keep the wallet and its contents but they did so. After removing the cash and a credit card, they dropped the wallet and left the restaurant. They have treated the wallet and its contents as if it was their own property and do what they liked with. There is a dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with intent permanently to deprive. Both of them have jointly committed theft.
Theft is punishable by imprisonment. However because of their young age the court will be looking at a sentence which enables them to reform. Assuming they are first offenders and are suitable for probation, the most likely sentence will be a probation order. This would place them all under the supervision of a probation officer who would work with them and their families to help them see the error of their ways and help them to reform and keep out of trouble in the future.
Hayden used the credit card to make online purchase without permission. What crimes has he committed? What law has he violated for using the stolen credit card to shop?
By using the credit card to make online purchases, Hayden is representing to the seller that he is lawfully entitled to use the credit card and that the credit card is a sufficient security for payment for the goods. He is deceiving the seller as the card is not his and he has no lawful authority to use it.
The most likely offence with which he would be charged is “obtaining property by deception” under Section 17 of the Theft Ordinance (Chapter 210). He has dishonestly obtained the items by deceiving the seller and he intends to permanently deprive the seller of the items.
Alternatively he could be charged with theft. Though the seller has voluntarily parted with the items, the seller only did so because of Hayden’s deception. He has dishonestly appropriated property belonging to another with the intent permanently to deprive by using the credit card he has no right to use.
If Jaycee and Hayden attempted to use the credit card to shop but failed, have they committed a crime?
When the store rejected the credit card they offered in payment for the goods they wanted, Jaycee and Hayden did not succeed in getting those goods. However “but for” the rejection of the card they would have succeeded in getting what they wanted. They are therefore guilty of “attempting to obtain property by deception”.
To constitute an attempt to commit a crime there must be acts which are more than simply preparatory. The acts must show what was intended. Hayden’s action shows what he intended to do. But for the rejection of the card he would have succeeded in obtaining the goods he wanted.
A person convicted of attempt to commit a crime is liable for the same punishment as if the intended crime had been committed.