The Law Commission

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

OBTAINING A MONEY TRANSFER BY DECEPTION

A new offence

1. We recommend the insertion into the Theft Act 1968 of a new section 15A, creating an offence of dishonestly obtaining a money transfer by deception.

(paragraph 4.11)

Overdrafts

2. We recommend that, for the purposes of the new offence, it should be immaterial whether either of the accounts is overdrawn before or after the money transfer is effected.

(paragraph 5.11)

Payments by cheque

3. We recommend that the new offence should extend to payments made by cheque as well as those made electronically.

(paragraph 5.14)

Territorial jurisdiction

4. We recommend that the offence of obtaining a money transfer by deception should be included among the Group A offences listed in Part I of the Criminal Justice Act 1993.

(paragraph 5.19)

Retrospective effect

5. We recommend that nothing done before the new section 15A comes into force, which would not have been an offence had that section not been enacted, should amount to an offence by virtue of that section.

(paragraph 5.36)

HANDLING STOLEN GOODS

Retaining credits from dishonest sources

6. We recommend the insertion into the Theft Act 1968 of a new section 24A, creating an offence of retaining a credit from a dishonest source, which would be committed where a credit made to an account

(1) is the credit side of a money transfer obtained by deception, contrary to the new section 15A, or

(2) derives from theft, blackmail or an offence under the new section 15A, or from stolen goods,

and the keeper of the account, knowing or believing that the credit is wrongful, dishonestly fails to take reasonable steps to cancel it.

(paragraph 6.18)

Stolen goods

7. We recommend that any money dishonestly withdrawn from an account to which a wrongful credit has been made should, to the extent that it derives from that credit, be regarded as stolen goods.

(paragraph 6.19)

Territorial jurisdiction

8. We recommend that the offence under section 24A should be included among the Group A offences listed in Part I of the Criminal Justice Act 1993.

(paragraph 6.21)

Retrospective effect

9. We recommend that the new section 24A should apply only to wrongful credits made after it comes into force.

(paragraph 6.23)

MICHAEL SAYERS, Secretary
18 September 1996