Fraud - Gain through Misrepresentation

What is fraud? It is to intentionally deceive someone for personal gain. It is often said that there is fraud in what most people do but when is it 'too far' that it is considered a crime?

The legal definition for fraud varies depending on the jurisdiction. Generally, however, fraud is defined as any form of deception made for personal gain. Most cases of fraud involve monetary gain, although historically, many cases of fraud in art, archaeology, and science had also been discovered.

Fraud is both a crime and civil law violation. It involves any statement or action that is deliberately given or done to deceive another person that consequently causes that person to suffer damage or to part with something that is of value to him/her. Other acts of deception do not necessarily and technically qualify as fraud provided they are not made for personal gain.

Oftentimes, forgery and falsification of documents and objects are associated to and used to commit fraud.

In criminal law, fraud is identified simply as the offense of deceiving another person to damage him/her.

In civil law, fraud is known as “tort”, a civil offense to which the law gives remedy provisions. Tort is commonly defined as the act of deliberately making false representation with the intent to deceive another person and leads to that individual’s disadvantage.

False representation can take the form of any of the following:

• False statement – stating a fact that is false by the time it was made
• Statement with no logical and realistic basis
• Assurance of service or performance with the no actual intention of making good on the agreement
• Statement of opinion which the maker of the opinion knows to be false
• Knowingly expressing a false opinion while claiming to have special knowledge or expertise regarding the subject matter

Fraud as a White Collar Crime

Many cases of fraud are done by people who held white collar jobs and enjoy certain level of credibility in their field. The white collar criminal, as they are sometimes called, possesses justified believability that makes it easy for the victim/s to trust him/her.

An investment broker, for example, can present potential clients with the opportunity of buying shares. The broker’s position renders him enough credibility and legitimacy such that the client agrees to release substantial amounts of money and is presented with authentic-looking documents in return. If the investment broker knew from the beginning that the shares did not exist in the first place, then he/she had just committed fraud.

The Elements of Winning Cases of Fraud

One of the difficult things to prove in cases of fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation of the offender since the accused can almost always deny any prior knowledge of the misrepresented fact or object.

Another important thing to prove in cases of fraud is the justifiability of the victim’s decision to trust and rely on the credibility and expertise of the accused. If your case involves a stranger who approached you and asks you to invest a substantial amount in business which you did, you have little chance of winning your case.

Nevertheless, what makes cases of fraud most difficult to win is the victim’s obligation to investigate. Before investing any amount of money, the victim should prove that he/she did his/her homework by investigating the legitimacy of the transaction since the accused can always claim that the victim was never denied the chance to find out the potential for fraud during the transaction.

 
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