Fraud By Misrepresentation

[Comon]

Hi, my friend got arrested in January and his bail has been extended twice and is due in on July. Basically he was arrested for paying stolen cheque's into his account worth £3500, but it was not him who committed the crime as someone else had payed the cheque into the account but my friend gave his personal details away to this person to make this transaction. This is his first offence and is under 18. What do you think he will get?

[Buenchico]

All first offences by people under 17 (other than very minor ones, which can be dealt with by a conditional discharge, and really serious offences such as murder) automatically result in a Referral Order. No other option is open to magistrates:
http://www.tameside.gov.uk/yot/referralorders

[Buenchico]

typo alert!

^^^under 18

[Comon]

But what do you think my friend will get?, because i am really concerned for him

[kvalidir]

Well firstly he hasn't been charged yet and he might not be depending on what he said when interviewed. Secondly is he going to plead guilty and thirdly Buenchico answered you already he's likely to get a referral order.

[Comon]

Will he said he gave his personal details away like his credit card details and pin to them to carry out the transaction and another question, how long can they keep him on bail for as it has nearly been 6 months.

[kvalidir]

did he admit to knowing what they were going to do or did he say that he was unaware and give them another explanation as to why they had his details? You're shooting in the wind at the moment because no-one's been charged with anything yet, so its impossible to sy other than Chris is always dead on the money.

[Orderlimit]

There are 'currently' no time limits for police bail pre-charge and no time pressures for cases involving an 'either-way' offence (offences that can be heard in Magistrates or Crown court).

Ultimately, it is a Custody officer, (who is independent from the investigation) who has to authorise bailing an accused and should be asked every time to justify / explain their decision.

Fraud investigations are usually very long due to all the bureaucracy involved in obtaining the required information & evidence.

[Comon]

Basically my friend was literally broke and his friend told him he can make quick and easy money if he gave his card to these guys and he didn't know what they were going to do with his card, But he did agree that this was a bit dodgy and no one has been charged yet and he is due back in early July.

[EDDIE51]

You say he had a credit card? You can not have a credit card unless you are over 18, yet you say he is 17. Do you mean debit card?

[Orderlimit]

Did you have a solicitor at the station?.

[Comon]

It was a debit card and no he did not have a solicitor.

[kvalidir]

Why did he not have a solicitor? Never agree to be interviewed unless you have a solicitor present. He needs to, at this point, think very carefully about what happened from the point of his firs contact with police. where did they arrest him, how did the arrest him, did they read him his rights properly, did he have access to a phone to call someone, was he offered a solicitor. If anything in the manner of the above was not done properly then whatever he said might be irrelevant. How old was he at the time of the interview, do you know?

[Comon]

I think he did not want a solicitor at that time and he was offered a solicitor. He got arrested at the bank when he asked for a transaction slip because he had received a fraud letter and wanted to find out what was going on in his account. and he was 17.

[Comon]

But all i want to know is what do you expect my friend to get?,

[Peter Pedant]

see answer no 1 - a referral order and a useful link for you to click on and find out what that means.

and Comon y'all should reflect on the saying - if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is....

.

I mean c'mon, can I use your account to pass cheques which are not to you and not to me, and you cash them and give me the money....?

honestly the whole scheme stinks
and I am only 61.

[Comon]

What do you mean mate?

[Comon]

Why would i want to waste my time on this matter, if it ain't true?

[EDDIE51]

Your answer reminds me of when I was working in a prison as a tutor.
One of my 'pupils' was in for receiving stolen goods , his defence was
'' I just came home and found someone had left all this stuff in my house''
A sort of reverse burglary if you like!