Law - fraud and the Penal Code

As mentioned previously, the Penal Code is the main criminal statute in Singapore.

Most of the common offences relating to fraud are found in Chapter 17 of the Code which deals with property offences. These offences are -

a) cheating (section 415) - this applies when a person is deceived or tricked either

• into delivering assets or
  

• allowing assets to be kept, or

• doing something or not doing something which in both cases is likely to lead to harm
  

b) criminal breach of trust (section 405) - this applies when a person who is either entrusted with assets or manages assets, uses these assets for purposes not covered by the entrustment.

c) forgery (section 463) - this applies to anyone making a false document or electronic record for a whole host of reasons. Perhaps if you make a fake document solely as a practical joke, this would be one of the few instances where no offence would be committed.

These offences may sometimes overlap - for example, if a fake share certificate is used to deceive someone, the offences of cheating and of forgery may both be committed. However, the usual rule is that a person cannot be punished twice for one criminal act.