When faced with fraud or breach of trust, it can sometimes be difficult to consider oneself a victim, since everyone is presumed to know the law. However, the law protects victims and punishes perpetrators. Here are the explanations of Me Nasser Benwahoud.
“Scam” is more of a generic rather than a legal term. However, from a strictly legal perspective, this concept may correspond to two offenses provided for in our Penal Code: fraud or breach of trust,” explains to Médias24 Me Nasser Benwahoud, attorney at the Casablanca Bar and Managing Partner at NB Law Firm.
This is an important distinction that also helps determine at what point a person is considered a victim, especially when they have voluntarily handed over money.
Many people, overwhelmed by shame or not considering themselves victims because they voluntarily handed over money, do not file complaints or seek compensation. This is notably the case for several individuals affected by the wave of scams spreading via instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, which was the subject of a previous article published on our website.
However, Moroccan law provides penalties for perpetrators of scams, or at least for actions that fall under these legal categories.
“Scam” is more of a generic rather than a legal term. However, from a strictly legal perspective, this concept may correspond to two offenses provided for in our Penal Code: fraud or breach of trust,” explains to Médias24 Me Nasser Benwahoud, attorney at the Casablanca Bar and Managing Partner at NB Law Firm.
This is an important distinction that also helps determine at what point a person is considered a victim, especially when they have voluntarily handed over money.
Many people, overwhelmed by shame or not considering themselves victims because they voluntarily handed over money, do not file complaints or seek compensation. This is notably the case for several individuals affected by the wave of scams spreading via instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, which was the subject of a previous article published on our website.
However, Moroccan law provides penalties for perpetrators of scams, or at least for actions that fall under these legal categories.
Up to 5 years in prison for fraud and up to 3 years for breach of trust
“First of all, fraud and breach of trust are distinguished by the legal texts governing them. Fraud is governed by Articles 540 and following of the Penal Code, which define it as the act of a person who, ‘with the intent to obtain for themselves or a third party an unlawful financial gain, deceitfully misleads another person through false statements or concealment of true facts, or knowingly exploits that person’s mistake and thereby induces them to act against their financial interests or those of a third party.’ In other words, fraud consists of obtaining goods, services, or money through deception. Fraud is punishable by imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of 500 to 5,000 dirhams,” explains Me Benwahoud.
According to this lawyer, “breach of trust is governed by Articles 547 and following of the Penal Code, which define it as the act of a person in bad faith who misappropriates or dissipates, to the detriment of the owners, holders or custodians, funds, goods or documents of any kind containing obligations or discharges that were entrusted to them on condition that they be returned or used for a specific purpose. In other words, breach of trust occurs when a person appropriates property that was voluntarily entrusted to them by the victim or diverts it from its intended use. As such, breach of trust is punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years and a fine of 200 to 2,000 dirhams.”
“In breach of trust, the perpetrator is voluntarily entrusted with the item or asset by the victim and then diverts it from its intended use.”
He adds: “The common point between breach of trust and fraud is that the perpetrator appropriates something that does not belong to them. The main difference lies in the method of appropriation. Unlike fraud, breach of trust does not require initial deception. The perpetrator is voluntarily entrusted with the item by the victim and then misuses it, whereas in fraud, deception is used to obtain the property, service or item in question.”
Thus, as soon as “the victim does not hand over funds or property for the purpose of committing an offense or violating the law, they may still be considered a victim. This is the case with breach of trust. For example, if you entrust your employee in charge of company finances with cheques they are authorized to sign to pay suppliers, but they use them to pay other individuals or settle personal debts, they commit breach of trust, even though you voluntarily handed over the cheques,” explains Me Benwahoud.
Vigilance and filing a complaint
Before addressing legal remedies, Me Nasser Benwahoud first recommends taking a number of precautions, whether on social networks or on the internet in general. He advises:
- being cautious of overly attractive offers promising payment in exchange for services requiring little or no effort;
- being aware of phishing, where a fraudster impersonates a bank or any trusted institution in order to send emails containing links to fake websites designed to collect banking and personal data;
- systematically blocking and reporting suspicious email addresses, phone numbers, or accounts offering the schemes mentioned above.
If a person falls victim to such a scam, Me Benwahoud recalls that “fraud and breach of trust are, as previously indicated, punishable under the Penal Code. Therefore, the first step is to file a complaint as quickly as possible with the competent police authorities in order to trigger an investigation and, where appropriate, initiate criminal proceedings through the public prosecutor. If the perpetrators are identified, it is then possible, in addition to criminal action, to join the proceedings as a civil party in order to recover the property or money (provided the offenders are solvent), and potentially seek compensation for the damages suffered.”
