Also known as: thefts by deceit · theft by deception · larceny by trick
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A criminal offense committed when a person purposely obtains title to the property of another by creating or reinforcing a false impression about a past or existing fact with intent to defraud.
Leo met with retiree Marta and presented charts claiming guaranteed minimum returns plus government insurance backing for an investment fund. Leo knew both claims were false. Marta transferred her life savings in reliance on those statements. Leo thereby obtained title to Marta's money through knowing false representations of existing facts.
Lena told startup founders Oliver and Priya that her former employer had already assigned her rights to a nearly identical codebase. In fact the company still owned the code. Relying on that statement the founders executed documents transferring full ownership of their software tool to Lena. Lena thereby obtained title through a knowing misrepresentation of a past and existing fact.
In December 1948, Morissette went hunting on a large tract of land in Michigan that the Government had used as a practice bombing range for the Air Force. Spent bomb casings from the range had been dumped into heaps and left exposed to the weather for four years or more. Morissette collected three tons of the casings, flattened them at a nearby farm, and sold them for eighty-four dollars. Morissette worked as a fruit stand operator in the summer and as a trucker and scrap iron collector in the winter. He was an honorably discharged veteran of World War II who had a good reputation among his neighbors. He loaded the casings onto his truck and transported them in broad daylight without any effort to conceal what he was doing. When authorities began an investigation, Morissette voluntarily and candidly told them the whole story, explaining that he believed the casings were abandoned and that he had no intention of stealing them. He was indicted for unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly stealing and converting property of the United States valued at eighty-four dollars in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641. At trial, the District Court refused to permit Morissette to show that he thought the property was abandoned or to argue that he lacked criminal intent. The court instructed the jury that if it believed the government testimony, Morissette was guilty, and the jury convicted him. The court sentenced him to two months in prison or a fine of two hundred dollars. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseTheft by deceit requires the victim to intend transfer of title while larceny by trick requires only an intent to transfer possession or custody. Courts look to the interest the victim meant to convey to decide which offense applies.
Supporting sources
Yes. A false promise about future performance does not satisfy the element even if the defendant never intended to perform. The statement must address a past or existing fact such as current legal rights or completed reports.
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No. The offense is complete once the defendant obtains title through the knowing misrepresentation. Later financial results do not affect whether the crime occurred.
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Concrete assertions about legal backing, completed reports, or existing rights qualify as factual misrepresentations. Vague optimistic statements that ordinary people would not take literally do not.
Supporting sources
…twelve hundred and ninety of the penal law, was denominated a larceny, to wit: common law larceny by asportation, common law larceny by trick and device, obtaining property by false pretenses, and embezzlement.” : Cf. Morgan, Instructing the Jury Upon Presumptions and Burden of Proof, 47 Harv. L. Rev. 59; Morgan, Some…