The Crime of Fraud
What is it and how do you prove it?
"The law and the courts have spoken on fraud and your protection from it." from the book "Defending
Your Employee Rights"
The Black's Law, American College, and Random House dictionaries along
with the court citations below* define FRAUD as:
A perversion of the truth to induce a person to part with something valuable belonging to them using false or misleading representations.
Elements of fraud which make it actionable are:
- a false representation of a past or present fact by the defendant
- a plaintiff action based upon reliance of that representation
- and damages suffered by a plaintiff from the reliance of the misrepresentation
What the law and the courts say about fraud:
"Anything calculated to deceive, whether by a single act or combination, or by suppression of truth, or suggestion of what is false whether it be direct falsehood or innuendo, by speech or silence, word of mouth, or look or gesture.
Delahanty v. First National Bank, NA, 318 Pa. Super. 90, 464 A.2d 1243,1251
"...includes all surprise, trick, cunning, dissembling, and any unfair way by which another is cheated."
Johnson v. McDonald, 170 Okl. 117, 39 P.2d 150
*
More on finding, reading and understanding legal citations.
Fraud is most often a crime but can also be a issue of excusable error in a civil matter but this is determined by the fact pattern and available evidence. If you suspect fraud see an attorney or the police.
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