Crimes against

Property
CRIMINAL LAW II
Handling
stolen
goods
 Section 411, Penal Code

 Whoever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen

property, knowing or having reason to believe the
same to be stolen property, shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to five
years or with fine or with both; and if the stolen
property is a motor vehicle or any component part
of a motor vehicle as defined in section 379A, shall
be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less
than six months and not more than five years, and
shall also be liable to fine.
Section 410, Penal Code

(1) Property the possession

whereof has been transferred by
theft, or by extortion, or by
robbery, and property which has
been criminally misappropriated
or in respect of which criminal
breach of trust or cheating has (2) The expression "stolen property"
been committed, is designated as includes any property into or for
"stolen property", whether the which the same has been
transfer has been made or the converted or exchanged and
misappropriation or breach of anything acquired by such
trust or cheating has been conversion or exchange whether
committed within or without immediately or otherwise.
Malaysia. But if such property
subsequently comes into the
possession of a person legally
entitled to the possession thereof,
it then ceases to be stolen
property.
 5

Elements

Those who knowingly deal, receive or handle goods

that are stolen are punished under the Penal Code.

the goods should first be construed as stolen – s410

AR – of s 411 the defendant must have either retained, received or accepted the goods -
The goods need not be in the possession of the defendant, but they need to
be in his custody. Moti Lal v State AIR (1959) Patna 54 (HC, Patna, India)
 6
The MR – the defendant dishonestly
kept the goods after knowing or
having a reason to believe - (s26)
that they were stolen. - Goh Peng
Meng v PP [ 1948-49] MLJ Supp 15
(HC, Malacca, Malaya)

When does it
Elements Cease to be
Stolen?

S410 (1) …But if such property

subsequently comes into the possession
of a person legally entitled to the
possession thereof, it then ceases to be
stolen property.
 7
Possible Defence :

 Thus, the defendant may not be charged under this section if he

can prove that the goods have ceased to be stolen. – s 410 (1).
EXTORTION
  Whoever intentionally puts any
person in fear of any injury to
that person or to any other,
and thereby dishonestly
induces the person so put in
s.383 fear to deliver to any person
Extortion any property or valuable
security, or anything signed or
sealed which may be
converted into a valuable
security, commits "extortion".
s.384 Punishment for extortion

Whoever commits extortion shall be punished

with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to ten years or with fine or with
whipping or with any two of such punishments.

Mohd. Ghafar Othman v. Public

prosecutor [1986] 2 CLJ 257
 s.385 Putting person in fear of
injury in order to commit
extortion

 Whoever, in order to commit extortion, puts any

person in fear, or attempts to put any person in
fear of any injury, shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to
seven years or with fine or with whipping or with
any two of such punishments.
 Case: Arjan Singh v PP [1948] MLJ 73, Tan Chin
Keng v PP [1964] MLJ 316
elements

The accused put the

complainant in fear of some The act was done with
injury to the complainant or intention
to some other person

The accused has induced

that person to deliver to any
person any property or
The accused did so
valuable security, or
dishonestly
something signed or sealed
which may be converted
into a valuable security
The Accused Put The Complainant
In Fear Of Some Injury

 Injury: any harm, whatever illegally caused to any person

in body, mind, reputation or property – s.44
 The injury must be by an act, and which act must be an
offence – Lee vincent v R, PP v Johar
 Fear: Must be in such nature and extent as to unsettle the
mind of the person on whom it operates and takes away
from his acts that element of free voluntary action. It is a
question of fact that need to be determine based on the
evidence of the complainant - Abdul Wahab bin Mohd
Noor v PP [1993] MLJU 331,
The threat can be implied -
A threat to exercise a legal
so long as the injury
power in an illegal manner
threatened came within
is an "injury" within the
the definition of "injury" in
meaning of s.44 - Public
section 44 - Tan Cheng
Prosecutor V Kang Siew
Kooi & Anor v PP [1972] 2
Chong [1968] 2 MLJ 39
MLJ 115
 that person to deliver to
any person any property

 The inducement to deliver property must be done dishonestly. If

the accused believe in good faith that he has a bona fide claim
over certain property and then prevented the complainant from
taking away the property until the accused had been
compensated and restrained the complainant when his demand
is not met – not extortion – R v Abdul Kader Valad Bala Abuji
 Property – movable or immovable
 Valuable security – a document which is, or purports to be, a
document whereby any legal rights is created, extended,
transferred, restricted, extinguished, or released or whereby any
person acknowledges that he lies under a legal liability or has not
a certain liability – s.30
 It must be proven that the accused had
intended to cause wrongful gain and
wrongful loss irrespective whether it is
actual or otherwise – ss.24

The accused
did so “Wrongful gain” – gaining of property by
unlawful means to which the person is
dishonestly not legally entitled – s 23
– s 24

“Wrongful loss” – losing of property by

unlawful means to which the person
losing is legally entitled to the property -
s 23
Robbery
Section 390 Robbery

 (1) In all robbery there is either theft or extortion.

 (2) Theft is "robbery", if, in order to commit theft, or in committing the theft, or in
carrying away or attempting to carry away property obtained by the theft,
the offender, for that end, voluntarily causes or attempts to cause to any
person death, or hurt, or wrongful restraint, or fear of instant death, or of instant
hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint.
 (3) Extortion is "robbery", if the offender, at the time of committing the
extortion, is in the presence of the person put in fear and commits the
extortion by putting that person in fear of instant death, of instant hurt, or of
instant wrongful restraint to that person or to some other person, and, by so
putting in fear, induces the person so put in fear then and there to deliver up
the thing extorted.
 Explanation - The offender is said to be present if he is sufficiently near to put
the other person in fear of instant death, of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful
restraint.
Section 392 Punishment for
robbery

 Whoever commits robbery shall be punished with

imprisonment for a term which may extend to
fourteen years, and he shall also be liable to fine or
to whipping.
Section 391Gang-robbery

 When two or more persons conjointly commit or attempt to

commit a robbery, or where the whole number of persons
conjointly committing or attempting to commit a robbery, and of
persons present and aiding such commission or attempt, amount
to two or more, every person so committing, attempting, or
aiding, is said to commit "gang-robbery".
Section 395 Punishment for
gang robbery

 Whoever commits gang-robbery shall be punished with

imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years, and
shall also be liable to whipping.
 Robbery is a felonious taking from the person of another or in his
presence against his will, by violence or by putting him in fear –
Karali Prasad Dutta v East Indian Railway Company (1928) 48 CLJ
32
 In all robbery there is either theft or extortion
Elements

By way of theft By way of extortion

 The accused had committed  The accused had committed
theft extortion
 The accused voluntarily  The extortion committed in the
caused or attempt to cause to presence of the person put in
any person – death, hurt or fear
wrongful restraint OR fear of
 That person was put in in fear of
instant death …
instant death, of instant hurt, or
 The accused did so “for that of instant wrongful restraint to
end” that person or to some other
person, and, by so putting in
 The accused did so voluntarily
fear, induces the person so put
in fear then and there to
deliver up the thing extorted.
For that end – shows that there must be a causal link between
the violence and the theft committed – Bishambar Nath v
Emperor AIR (1941) Oudh 476

Violence was used to commit the theft.

The fear must have caused the delivery of the property which
may have been delivered to any other person besides the
person who applied the violence.