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Police Law - Ninth Edition

Chapter 39 - Offences of Fraud and Corruption

Chapter 39 - Offences of Fraud and Corruption

[New January 2007]

A large part of this chapter has been affected by the Fraud Act 2006. The following text provides details of the new offences created by the 2006 Act. A full examination of the provisions of the Act has been prepared and is incorporated into the 10th Edition of 'Police Law' which will be available in the early part of 2007.

The Fraud Act 2006 (FA 2006) creates a general offence of fraud. It additionally creates new offences of obtaining services dishonestly, of possessing articles for use in frauds, see Ch 42 below, of making or supplying articles for use in frauds, see Ch 42 below, and of fraudulent trading by non-corporate traders.

The offences of deception previously contained in the Theft Act 1968, s 15, 15A, 16 and 20(2) and the Theft Act 1978, ss 1 and 2 have been repealed by the Fraud Act 2006, as recommended by the Law Commission's Report on Fraud. The offence of conspiracy to defraud has been retained on the basis of serious practical concerns about the ability to prosecute multiple offences in the largest and most serious cases of fraud.

Offences of fraud

FA 2006, s 1 creates an offence of fraud. It provides that a person is guilty of fraud if he is in breach of the FA 2006 s 2 (fraud by false representation); 3 (failing to disclose information); and 4 (fraud by abuse of position).

Fraud by false representation

A person is in breach of s 2 of if he:

1. dishonestly makes a false representation, and
2. intends by making the representation:
   1. to make a gain for himself or another, or
   2. to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

Fraud by failing to disclose information

A person is in breach of s 3 if he:

1. dishonestly fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose, and
2. intends, by failing to disclose the information:
1. to make a gain for himself or another, or
2. to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

Fraud by abuse of position

A person is in breach of s 4 if he:

1. occupies a position in which he is expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person,
2. dishonestly abuses that position, and
3. intends, by means of the abuse of that position:
1. to make a gain for himself or another, or
2. to cause loss to another or to expose another to the risk of loss.

Obtaining services dishonestly

A person commits an offence against FA 2006, s 11(1) if he obtains services for himself or another:

1. by a dishonest act, and
2. in breach of the provisions of s 11(2) below.

A person obtains service in breach of s 11(2), if:

1. they are made available on the basis that payment has been, is being or will be made for or in respect of them;
2. he obtains them without any payment having been made for or in respect of them or without payment having been made in full, and
3. when he obtains them he knows:
   1. that they are being made available on the basis described in (a), or
   2. that they might be
   but intends that payment will not be made, or will not be made in full.

Unauthorised access to computer material p 1001

When P&JA 2006, s 35(2) is brought into force, the italicised words below will be inserted in CMA 1990, s 1(1) so that it will provide as follows:

1. he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer, or to enable any such access to be secured;
2. the access he intends to secure, or to enable to be secured, is unauthorised; and
3. he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.

Unauthorised modification of computer material

When P&JA 2006, s 36 comes into force, CMA 1990, s 3 will be substituted by the following provision:

Unauthorised acts with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of computer etc.

1. A person is guilty of an offence if:
   1. he does any unauthorised act in relation to a computer;
   2. at the time when he does the act he knows that it is unauthorised; and
   3. either subs (2) or (3) below applies.
2. This subsection applies if the person intends by doing the cat:
1. to impair the operation of any computer;
2. to prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in the computer;
3. to impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data; or
4. to enable any of the things mentioned in paras (a) to (c) above to be done.
3. This subsection applies if the person is reckless as to whether the at will do any of the things mentioned in paras (a) to (d) of subs (2) above.
4. The intention referred to in subs (2) above, or the recklessness referred to in subs (3) above, need not relate to:
1. any particular computer;
2. any particular program or data; or
3. a program or data of any particular kind.
5. In this section:
   1. a reference to doing an act includes a reference to causing an act to be done;
   2. 'act' includes a series of acts;
   a reference to impairing, preventing or hindering something includes a reference to doing so temporarily.

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Unauthorised access with intent p1002

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Unauthorised modification of computer material p1002

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Arrest without warrant p1005

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