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 compen ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

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. North ...

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 Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

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 deception ...

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 int ...

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 treachero ...

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

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

, 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 offen ...

to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum, or to both. ;Visiting forces This offence is an offence against property for the purposes of section 3 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952. ;Jurisdiction This offence is a Group A offence for the purposes of Part I of the Criminal Justice Act 1993.

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 sectio ...

. ;Visiting forces This offence is an offence against property for the purposes of section 3 of the Visiting Forces Act 1952. ;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 prescribed sum, 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.The Criminal Justice Act 2011
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