Legal definition of fraud

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Posted by John Merchant on September 13, 2002 at 12:03:28:

In Reply to: loan fraud? posted by mrwi on September 12, 2002 at 11:58:56:

Once again: Fraud is deception or deceit or trickery. An act using deceit such as intentional distortion of the truth or misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact to gain an unfair advantage over another in order to secure something of value or deprive another of right.

So if you're asking if something you write down in your 1003, and openly show everybody involved, constitutes fraud, I'd doubt if any judge or jury would find fraud in the deal. And if I were a criminal prosecutor, I wouldn't want to waste my time or a Grand Jury's time in trying to get a criminal indictment here.

Just be aware that anybody can sue anybody else for anything, and lots of suits have little merit or legal basis...doesn't keep them from happening, and the only real defense is to openly disclose everything, concealing nothing, and to perform any contract exactly as to the letter of the contract, , so the party being sued has nothing to fear about taking the witness stand and being cross-examined.

And maybe the real acid test of fraud and whether it exists (in your deal) is to ask yourelf if you'd fear being cross-examined on the witness stand about the transaction. If so, then there likely is something to worry about and some changes might need to be made before the deal is consummated.

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