Meaning and Nature of False Pretence
The phrase "False Pretence" means any representation made by words, in writing or by conduct of a matter of fact either past or present, which is false in fact and which the person
making it knows to be false or does not believe to be true. The offence is defined by section 418 & 419 of the Criminal Code as follows;
Any person
who by any
false presence and with intent to defraud,
obtains from
any
other person anything capable of being stolen, or
induces any other person to deliver to any
person anything capable
of
being stolen is guilty of felony and liable to imprisonment for 3
years.
In Onwudiwe v. F.R.N., the Supreme Court opined that the offence of
obtaining by false
pretences means
knowingly obtaining another person property by means of a misrepresentat ion of fact with intent to defraud. The offence has
the following ingredients
1. That there was false pretence relating to an existing fact emanating from the accused
person. In R. v. Anijoloja, the accused falsely represented to another person that he has a
clerk or servant to „C‟ and that „C‟ had asked him to collect some money from “B” when
in fact he was not so employed or instructed but got the money from “B”. It was held that he was guilty of obtaining the money by false pretence. Similarly, in Johnson Ogu v. The Queen, a treasury
clerk forged some vouchers and submitted them for payment, falsely pretending that some work had been done for a government department by
some contractors. By means of
these forged vouchers he connected some cheques, the proceeds
of which he paid into the account. He was held liable for collecting the cheques by false
pretences.
But, if the false pretence relates only to a future matter
no offence is committed. In Achonra v. IGP, the accused obtained a sum of money from another by promising the latter
that he would use the money to influence the SOP to give a job to that person. It was held that
he
was not liable as this was just a promise to do something in the future. In Inneh v. COP, it
was
held that the giving of a post-dated cheque implies a future representation, the effect of
which is that the accused is not liable. But if a drawer has an account at the bank, then there is
a false representation of an existing fact.
But if the false representation is
of an existing fact couple with a promise, he is liable. In Ogedengbe Macaulay v. IGP, the appellant falsely
represented that he was in a
position to influence councilors to get allocation of bus route permits fo r Jazzar and that
certain councilors of the town council had informed him that they would give Jazzar bus route permits if he paid 100 pounds for each. Believing the pretence the complainant gave a cheque to the appellant who paid it into his account. He was convicted. In Onwudiwe v. FRN, the appellant falsely
represented that the bank which he was chairman had 345,000
dollars to exchange for it 16.56 Million naira. Believing this, an ex-banker procured a
company
(Partnership Investment Ltd) to part with the money. The appellant was held
liable for false pretence.
2. That
the representations
made
to the
victim of
the offence
were
false to
the knowledge of the accused. In Ede v. FRN, the appellants represented deceitfully
to the
victim that a worthless substance sold to him was granite permude which the victim wanted to buy. As a result of this, the victim parted with his money. It was held that they were liable as the representations were false to the knowledge of both
appellants. Also, in Onwudiwe v. FRN, the fact that the appellant knew that neither the Ivory Merchant Bank
Ltd. nor himself had 345,000 US Dollars to exchange for N16.56m made the pretence
false.
3. The false representation must have been made by the accused person with intent to
deceive and defraud.
4. The victim of the offence must have been induced to believe the false representation to be
true and must have acted on it.
5. The thing, the subject matter of the false pretence must be capable of being stolen.
Finally, the offence is committed when
a person obtains a loan of money by false pretences even if the person intends to repay it, because ownership in the particular money lent has passed
to him.
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