Now, Dishonesty is to Act WITHOUT Honesty. It is used to describe a Lack
of Probity, Cheating, Lying, or being Deliberately Deceptive or a Lack in
Integrity, Knavishness, Perfidiosity, Corruption or Treacherousness.
Dishonesty is the fundamental component of a majority of Offences relating
to the Acquisition, Conversion and Disposal of Property (Tangible or
Intangible).
A Person must knowingly misappropriate the Money, and cannot commit the
Crime by making a mistake or error. A Person who misappropriates Funds
does not have to intend to actually physically take the Money. It can be
enough for the Prosecution to show that the Defendant intended to take any
action that results or would likely result in the misappropriation of Funds. In
some instances, the Defendant must know that the Action is illegal, while in
other instances the Defendant only has to Act intentionally and does not
need to know that the Conduct is Criminal.
Section 16 of the Penal Code defines “Dishonestly” as “A Person is said to
do a thing “dishonestly”, who does that thing with the intention of causing a
wrongful gain to himself or another or of causing wrongful loss to any other
person.” By wrongful gain this was defined under Section 13 of the Act, as
gain by unlawful means of Property to which the person gaining is not
legally entitled. The Penal Code Act also went further to define what is meant
by wrongful loss in Section 14 to mean, the loss by unlawful means of
Property to which the person losing it, is legally entitled. Under Section 15,
a person is said to gain wrongfully when such person retains wrongfully, as
well as when such person acquires wrongfully, and a person is said to lose
wrongfully when such person is wrongfully kept out of any Property, as well
as when such person is wrongfully deprived of Property. A dishonest
intention is an essential ingredient of Criminal Breach of Trust.
Further, the intention may frequently be presumed from the consequences
of the act, as a person is presumed to intend the natural consequences of his
act. See WIGMORE ON EVIDENCE VOLUME 2 PAGE 42 PARTICULARLY AT
PARAGRAPH 242
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