False Pretenses
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What Is False Pretenses?
False pretenses is a crime where a person, or group of people, obtain money or property by consciously making false, misleading or untrue statements. False pretenses can be in the form of verbal, written, an implied statement or a withholding.
If someone releases rights to their property under the understanding of truthful statements, even if the deal turns out to be a poor choice, is not considered false pretenses. If someone attempts to obtain property by means of false pretenses, but the statements they made were in actuality true, the crime of false pretenses has not been committed.
If someone says or does nothing opposed to outright making false statements, such as selling a car knowing the engine is about to go out, is also considered the crime of false pretenses.
To be convicted of false pretenses, the offender must do more than obtain possession of the stolen property, he or she must also obtain the title of ownership. If someone gains possession of stolen property but not the title of ownership, the crime is typically referred to as larceny or theft. For example, if someone breaks into a house and steals a watch, they have only gotten possession of the stolen watch and not the ownership of it, therefore committing larceny. If, on the other hand, a person gives someone counterfeit money for the watch, obtaining it's title, that would be considered the crime of false pretenses.
Examples Of False Pretenses
Some examples of false pretenses are claiming a mine is producing a precious metal when it has not, trying to pass cubic zircons off as diamonds or hiding the fact a car has been in a major accident when selling it. Profiting from false pretenses is a form of theft and the person who committed or attempted to commit the crime of false pretenses will be prosecuted by state or federal court.
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