HELP COLLEGE OF ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY

IN COLLABORATION WITH
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY
____________________________________________
BUSINESS LAW [BUS 206]

LECTURE 4
CRIMINAL LAW [1]

NATURE OF CRIMES
Definition

Any act or omission forbidden by public law

Violation of which is a societal wrong i.e. against community
Designed to prevent harm to society i.e. protecting society
Prosecuted by the government
Innocent until proven guilty
Guilt test beyond a reasonable doubt
Purpose deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution
Essential Elements

[1] Actus Reus wrongful or overt act non-mental element

[2] Mens Rea criminal intent or mental fault mental element
Both Actus Reus & Mens Rea must be present in a crime
Classification

[1] Felony serious crime - punishable by death or imprisonment in

the penitentiary / prison
[2] Misdemeanor less serious crime - punishable by fine or
imprisonment in local jail

NATURE OF CRIMES (contd)

Degrees of Mental Fault
[1] Subjective Fault

Fault required [i] purposeful, [ii] knowing, [iii] reckless

[a] Purposely / intentionally - engaged in prohibited conduct / cause prohibited result

[b] Knowingly / consciously - conduct prohibited type or prohibited consequence

certain to result

[c] Recklessly / irresponsibly - disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk

Examples [a] Larceny, [b] Embezzlement

[2] Objective Fault

Fault required [i] negligent, [ii] careless

Gross deviation from the standard of care reasonable man test

Examples [a] Careless Driving, [b] Issuing Bad Cheques

[3] Liability Without Fault

Fault required none

Examples [a] Sale of alcohol to minor, [b] Sale of adulterated food

LIABILITY
[1] Vicarious Liability

Liability imposed on the employers for the acts of employees if the

employer directed, participated in, or approved of the acts
[2] Liability of a Corporation

Under certain circumstances a corporation may be convicted of

crimes and punished by fines
Historically not held criminally liable
Traditional view could not possess the requisite criminal intent
Modern approach The Model Penal Code corporation may be
convicted
Criminal offence conduct of its employees, statute impose liability
Punishment of corporation fine only
Individuals bearing responsibility fines, imprisonment or both

WHITE-COLLAR CRIME
Definition

Non-violent crime involving deceit, corruption, breach of trust

Includes crimes committed by individuals embezzlement, forgery
Crimes committed on behalf of corporation commercial bribery, product safety, health crimes,
false advertising, antitrust violations.
Business scandals Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Sarbanes-Oxley Act seeks to prevent scandals by increasing corporate responsibility; adding
new financial disclosure requirements; creating new criminal offences; increasing penalties of
existing Federal crimes
Computer crime or Cybercrime

Use of a computer to commit a crime

Best categorised based on whether the computer was the instrument or the target of the crime

Computer as instrument of the crime distribution of child pornography, money laundering,

illegal gambling, copyright infringement, illegal communication of trade secret, fraud involving
credit cards, e-commerce and securities

Computer as target of the crime attacks computer confidentiality, integrity, availability theft
or destruction of proprietary information, vandalism, denial of service, web site defacing,
interference, implanting malicious code

Spam - unsolicited commercial electronic mail - prevalent method of committing computer crime
distributing pornography; perpetrating fraudulent schemes; introducing viruses, worms, Trojan
horses into personal and business computer systems

People V. Farell Supreme Court California the crime of theft is not limited to an unlawful
taking of money the crime of theft may involve the theft of trade secrets the legislature
specified that the theft of trade secrets is akin to the theft of any other property

CRIMES AGAINST BUSINESS

Larceny

Trespassory taking and carrying away of personal property of another with

the intent to deprive the victim permanently of the property
Crime all six [6] elements must exist i.e. [1] trespassory [2] taking and [3]
carrying away of [4] personal property [5] of another [6] with the intent to
deprive the victim permanently of the goods

Embezzlement

Taking of another's property by a person who was in lawful possession of

the property
Fraudulent conversion of anothers property by one who was in lawful
possession of it statutory crime
Conversion seriously interferes with the owners rights in the property
exhausting resources of the property, selling it, giving it away, refusing to
return it to the rightful owner
Larceny V Embezzlement key distinction - whether thief is in lawful
possession of the property
Larceny V Embezzlement 2nd distinction embezzlement does not require
the intent to deprive the owner permanently of his property

CRIMES AGAINST BUSINESS (contd)

False Pretences
Crime of obtaining title to property of another by making materially false
representation of an existing fact, with knowledge of their falsity and with the
intent to defraud
Test of deception subjective if the victim actually deceived test
satisfied although reasonable person would not have been deceived
Victims gullibility or lack of due care not a defense
Crimes similar to false pretences mail, wire and bank fraud, securities
fraud
Robbery
A larceny with additional elements [1] property is taken directly from the
victim or in the immediate presence of the victim and [2] the act is
accomplished through either force or the threat of force which need not be
against the person from whom the property is taken
Can be aggravated by any of several factors, including [1] the use of deadly
weapon, [2] the robbers intent to kill or to kill if faced with resistance, [3]
serious bodily injury to the victim, or [4] commission of the crime by two (2)
or more persons

CRIMES AGAINST BUSINESS (contd)

Burglary

At Common law defined - breaking and entering the dwelling of another at

night with intent to commit a felony
Modern statutes differ from common law definition requiring merely that
there be [1] an entry [2] into a building [3] with the intent to commit a felony
in the building
Three (3) elements of common law omitted the building need not be a
dwelling house, the entry need not be at night, and the entry need not be a
technical breaking

Extortion

Or blackmail
Making of threats for the purpose of obtaining money or property
In a few jurisdictions, however, the crime of extortion occurs only if the
defendant actually causes the victim to give up money or property

CRIMES AGAINST BUSINESS (contd)

Bribery

The act of offering money or property to a public official to influence the officials
decision
Bribery committed when illegal offer is made whether accepted or not
Some jurisdictions have gone beyond traditional bribery law by adopting statutes that
make commercial bribery illegal
Commercial bribery is the use of bribery to acquire new business, obtain secret info
or processes or receive kickbacks

Forgery

Intentional falsification or false making of a document with the intent to defraud

Common type signing of anothers name to a financial document

Bad Checks

Writing a check on an account containing funds insufficient to cover the check

All jurisdictions have now enacted laws making it a crime to issue bad checks
Most jurisdictions simply require that the check be issued; they do not require that the
issuer receive anything in return for the check
Although most jurisdictions require that the defendant issue a check with knowledge
that she does not have enough money to cover the check, the Model Penal Code and
a number of States provide that knowledge is presumed if the issuer had no account
at the bank or if the check was not paid for lack of funds and the issuer failed to pay
the check within ten (10) days

CASE STUDY
Case Study 1 (Larceny)
Barbara pays Larry $5,000.00 for an automobile that Larry agrees to
deliver the following week,and Larry does not do so.
Case Study 2 (Larceny)
Carol left Dannys 1968 car in a junkyard after using it for a joyride.
Case Study 3 (False Pretenses)
John Boy goes door to door and collects money by saying he is selling
stereo equipment, when he is not.
Case Study 4 (Robbery)
A robber threatens Gaga, saying that unless Gaga opens her employers safe,
the robber will shoot Beyonce.

CASE STUDY
Case Study 5 (Extortion)
Cher tells Bono that unless he pays her $10,000.00, she will tell Bonos
customers that he was once arrested for disturbing the peace.
Case Study 6 (Bribery)
Yummy offered Gangnam, the mayor of New Town, a 20 percent interest in
Yummys planned real estate development if Gangnam would use his influence
to have the development proposal approved.
Case Study 7 (Forgery)
Tupac prepares a false certificate of title to a stolen automobile.
Case Study 8 (Forgery)
Twitter alters some receipts to increase her income tax deductions.