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Criminal cases

24

Apr
2016

In Criminal Cases

By - F.P. Slewe

Criminalisation of acquisition fraud

On 24, Apr 2016 | In Criminal Cases | By - F.P. Slewe

On 6 April 2016, the Act of 29 March 2016 amending, among other things, the Criminal Code in connection with the criminalisation of acquisition fraud was published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Staatsblad 2016,133).

Acquisition fraud involves misleading commercial practices between organisations, using certain sales techniques aimed at gaining trust and creating expectations in order to induce the other to enter into a contract, with little or no proper consideration being given. Examples include ghost notes, false invoices and telephone fraud.

According to the legislator, it is not only about acquiring orders, but also about provoking undue payments. The legislator considers acquisition fraud to be a specific form of financial and economic crime, which is a sophisticated abuse of confidence in trade with the aim of favouring someone else to the detriment of others.

On that basis, the Act of 29 March 2016 introduces a new article 326d into the Penal Code. This article provides that he who, with the intention of giving himself or another person an unlawful advantage, commits any fraudulent act of deception in order to induce another person, acting in the exercise of a profession, business or organisation, to make a payment, shall be punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fifth-category fine.

According to the legislator, the relatively general wording of the article makes it more future-proof and can be used against multiple forms of acquisition fraud.

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