NSW Fraud - Can Charges be Dropped After Recompense is Made?

[Robin]

The daughter of a friend has been charged with fraud due to posting items for sale on the internet, accepting the money but never sending the items. It hasn't yet gone to court.

If she now refunded the money to those she didn't send the items to, could the charges now be dropped?

 

[Lance]

Hi Robin,
The fraud was committed but until her day in court she isn't technically not guilty. If who ever raised the charges is convinced that the matter is closed and doesn't want their day in court then the matter can be put to bed. Unfortunately that may not be so easy. If it was one or two items she might be able to argue it was done in error. If its more that might not be so easy. You friends daughter might want to get a lawyer to deal with the matter and see if it can be settled prior to court.

 

[Tim W]

The daughter of a friend has been charged with fraud due to posting items for sale on the internet, accepting the money but never sending the items. It hasn't yet gone to court.

If she now refunded the money to those she didn't send the items to, could the charges now be dropped?

Not always and automatically, no.

It depends on exactly what charge(s) there are, and which entity is prosecuting.
Thing is, if there's enough going on for there to a prosecution on foot,
then perhaps it's more than a one-off small scale eBay "Seller didn't deliver" type dispute.

One other suggestion - do not give (or loan) your friend, or your friend's daughter, any money.
And don't give anyone any money on their behalf.
Doing so is not unlawful, it's just a bad idea.

 

[Rod]

Scenario: an armed robber robs a armoured car and gets $100K and then hides it. Police get irrefutable evidence of the identity of the robber and take him to the station but haven't recovered the money.

In the interview room the robber says "if I repay all the money will you let me go?"

Are the police likely to just the robber go?

No.

In the friends case, repaying the money may become a factor in reducing a sentence and is something to consider. If the daughter doesn't volunteer to repay, and actually pay before court, she is likely to get a more severe sentence because she has shown no remorse. If she decides to repay then make sure it is documented and can be presented to the court in the sentencing hearing.

 

[Iamthelaw]

There's aspects of @Tim W and @Rod 's posts that are attractive. Although the scenario Rod has put forward is not always as cut and dry in these types of situations.

Ideally, I would want to know more - Was your friend posting these items on their own behalf or were they operating as some form of entity ie, a company? Even if not, is it common that your friend sells items online?

It's commonplace that such commercial entities may offer items for pre-sale (or through other arrangements) whilst they await to receive stock from suppliers, distributors etc. It's also common that relationships between distributors and retailers may break down, stock is lost etc. Hence a retailer not being able to fulfil order(s).

Like Tim has mentioned, much would depend on what they've been charged, what evidence there is and how much time has past between the sale and the visit from the police.

Say if the above scenario were to apply where your friend could provide proof of such arrangement and reason as to why stock was not delivered to customers and refunded the sales in full - Depending on the amount of time past, there may be an argument for your friend's lawyer to contact the prosecution and offer up the explanation that there was never any intention to deceive and that it was all a result of a breakdown in the relationship (or whatever) between supplier and retailer (your friend) that caused your friend unable to fulfil the purchases made - Whilst also providing proof that all purchasers had received a refund when it became clear to your friend that they weren't going to be able to fulfil orders - Again, this may or may not apply to your friend - Much depends on their exact circumstances.

In contrast, purely refunding said purchases 'just because' will likely not cause the prosecuting body to just drop the charges, as an offence may have already have been committed. However, it would likely be viewed as a mitigating factor that may reduce the severity of the offence.

Your friend should retain a lawyer for advice as soon as possible.