“Whoever Dishonestly Misappropriates or Converts to his Own Use any
Moveable Property, commits Criminal Misappropriation.”
To prove this Offence of Criminal Misappropriation the following Ingredients
are pertinent, namely: 1. The Property must have an Owner;
2. The Defendant had reasonable belief that the Owner could be found by
evidence of his Previous Acquaintance with the Ownership of the
Property, the Place where the Property is found, or the Nature of the
Marks upon it;
3. The Property in question is a Moveable Property;
4. The Defendant is already in Possession of the Property and is either
lawfully in possession or in his Possession;
5. The Possession came by innocently;
6. There has been a change of intention by the Defendant or the
Defendant is aware of some new facts, which makes his continued
retention of the Property wrongful and fraudulent;
7. The Defendant Misappropriated the Moveable Property or converted
the Moveable Property to his own use;
8. It is sufficient that some of the Moveable Property has been
misappropriated or converted by the Defendant even though it may be
uncertain the exact amount Misappropriated or Converted and
9. The Defendant did so dishonestly.
As regards the Common Elements, the definitions of Property and Owner
comes into play. In WORDS AND PHRASES: LEGALLY DEFINED AT PAGE
446, the word “Property” is stated to include Money and all other Property,
Real or Personal, including Things in Action and other Intangible Property.
From the above definitions, Money is a Property and it is a Moveable
Property that could be perceived using human senses.
Further, from the evidence adduced during Trial, it is important to note that
the Money contained in each Count of Offence for Criminal Misappropriation
was encased in a Cheque, Cash or Draft Form, which are the Mediums
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