False accounting is a legal term for a type of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

, considered a

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

offence in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

England and Wales

This offence is created by section 17 of the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deceptio ...

which provides: Section 17 replaces sections 82 and 83 of the

Larceny Act 1861 The Larceny Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict c 96) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). It consolidated provisions related to larceny and similar offences from a number of earlier statutes into ...

and the Falsification of Accounts Act 1875. The words "dishonestly with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another" are substituted in section 17 for the words "intent to defraud" in the former provisions. ;"Dishonestly" See

Dishonesty Dishonesty is to act without honesty. It is used to describe a lack of probity, cheating, lying, or deliberately withholding information, or being deliberately deceptive or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousne ...

. "Gain" and "loss" "Gain" and "loss" are defined b
section 34(2)(a)
of the Theft Act 1968. ;Mode of trial and sentence This offence is

triable either way A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way, or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as i ...

. A person guilty of this offence is liable, on conviction on

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or on

summary conviction A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offenc ...

to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the

prescribed sum The prescribed sum is the maximum fine that may be imposed on summary conviction of certain offences in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is now equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale, which it predates. In Scotl ...

, or to both. ;Visiting forces This offence is an

offence against property Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, propert ...

for the purposes of section 3 of the

Visiting Forces Act 1952 The Visiting Forces Act 1952 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Section 3provides immunity against prosecution for certain offences in the courts of United Kingdom by members of visiting forces and, by virtue of the 1964 Act, inte ...

. ;Jurisdiction This offence is a Group A offence for the purposes of Part I of the

Criminal Justice Act 1993 The Criminal Justice Act 1993c 36 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament that set out new rules regarding drug trafficking, proceeds and profit of crime, financing of terrorism and insider dealing. Overview Section 52 creates an offence of insider ...

Northern Ireland

This offence is created b
section 17
of the

Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 The Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 (c 16) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It makes criminal law provisions for Northern Ireland similar to those made in England and Wales by the Theft Act 1968. Section 1 - Theft This section ...

. ;Visiting forces This offence is an

for the purposes of section 3 of the

. ;Mode of trial This offence is an

indictable offence In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing ...

which may be tried summarily upon consent of the accused. See

hybrid offence A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way, or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as i ...

. ;Sentence A person guilty of this offence is liable, on conviction on

, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or on

to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or to a fine not exceeding the

, or to both.

Republic of Ireland

This offence is created b
section 10
of the

Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 (No. 50 of 2001) updates and consolidates the law relating to dishonesty and fraud in the Republic of Ireland. The main sections of the statute include: *Theft and Related Offences *Makin ...

. This offence is a "relevant offence" for the purposes of the

Criminal Justice Act 2011 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

.The

section 3(1)(a)
and paragraph 23 o
Schedule 1
/ref>

References

{{English criminal law navbox, state=collapsed Crimes Legal terminology

England and Wales

Northern Ireland

Republic of Ireland

See also

References