Punishment for fraud

The courts take into account many factors in sentencing including the degree of planning, the amount of money involved and the restitution made (in other words, whether the criminal has repaid the victim for the loss).

One interesting fact is that if you want to steal a million, from the punishment point of view, it is better to take it all at one go rather than take the amount through several actions. In the first case, it is sometimes possible to argue that it was done in a moment of weakness and the court might be slightly lenient. In the second situation, with repeated offences, the court will note that the acts were done with deliberation and if they took place over a periood of time, the sentence may well be on the high side.