NCJ Number
218919
Date Published
January 2007
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This report on the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Expert Group To Prepare a Study on Fraud and the Criminal Misuse and Falsification of Identity addresses the commercial context of economic fraud, national experiences of economic fraud and legislative responses, and the scope and extent of fraud.
Abstract
Regarding commercial law that deals with economic fraud, most of the countries represented at the meeting provided information on laws that regulate commercial activities. These countries have contract law or law of obligation. Additional rules are intended to provide protection in situations of inequality, dishonesty, or inadequate disclosure. Electronic commerce, which uses technologies for the advertising and sale of goods and services as well as payment, is expanding in countries where it is technologically viable, but it is still a small fraction of overall commerce. The discussion of national experiences of economic fraud and legislative responses found that in most countries, the legislative definition of fraud is exclusively economic, but practical use of the term sometimes includes other forms of crime that involve elements of dishonesty or deception, but not necessarily an economic element. Generally, countries have adopted two strategies for criminalizing fraud, depending on whether fraud is defined in detail. Some countries have only a small number of general fraud offenses, and others have larger numbers of more narrowly framed, specific offenses. Countries have experienced a wide range of types of fraud, such that many have expanded existing offenses or adopted new offenses to deal with recent innovations for committing fraud, such as computer-related fraud. Punishments that could be imposed for fraud range from 0-3 months imprisonment for minor offenses up to a maximum of 30 years or more for serious fraud offenses. The discussion of the scope and extent of fraud focused on rates and trends as well as measurement.