Theft of money – How do you deal with theft and get the money back?

Theft of money is a criminal offense under the provisions of the Penal Code. The penalty for this offense can reach several years in prison. In addition, in addition to the criminal sanction, the thief risks being sued Financial claim or Civil lawsuit For the purpose of recovering the funds, and in addition to receiving financial compensation for the damage caused by the theft.

Sometimes the real difficulty after stealing money is locating the identity of the thief. The Israel Police will not always be able to assist you in this matter, and if the theft is not a large amount of money, there is a chance that your complaint to the Israel Police will be closed due to lack of public interest or for some other reason.

Attorney Eddie Blitstein has been representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex money theft lawsuits for over a decade. Considering filing a money theft lawsuit in excess of 100,000 shekels? Need to defend yourself against a money theft lawsuit? Contact our office and we can help you too.

Theft of money – the criminal aspect

Penal Law Defines what theft is, what the thief's punishment is, and even refers to specific acts of theft.

Theft is defined in Section 383 of the law as follows:

Theft – what is it?

(a) A person steals something if he –

(1) Takes and carries away a thing that can be stolen, without the consent of the owner, fraudulently and without a claim of right in good faith, intending at the time of taking to deprive the thing of its owner, a permanent deprivation;

(2) Being lawfully in possession of a thing capable of being stolen, in trust or in partial ownership, he fraudulently disposes of it for his own use or for the use of another who is not the owner of the thing.

(b) For the purpose of theft under subsection (a), it is irrelevant that the person taking or delivering the thing is a member of the board of directors or an officer of the corporation to which the thing belongs, provided that the other circumstances add up to constitute theft.

(c) In the matter of theft –

(1) "נטילה" – לרבות השגת החזקה –

(a) By trickery;

(b) by intimidation;

(c) by mistake of the owner and with the knowledge of the taker that the possession was thus obtained;

(d) Upon discovery, if at the time of discovery the finder assumes that it is possible by reasonable means to discover the husband;

(2) "נשיאה" – לרבות הסרת דבר ממקומו, ובדבר המחובר – הסרתו לאחר ניתוקו הגמור;

(3) "בעלות" – לרבות בעלות חלקית, החזקה, זכות החזקה או שליטה;

(4) "דבר הניתן להיגנב" – דבר בעל ערך שהוא נכסו של אדם, ובמחובר למקרקעין – לאחר ניתוקו מהם.

Pay attention – A person can be charged with the crime of stealing money if he found the money but did not bother to return the money to its owner, as long as the owners of the money can be located by reasonable means.

Article 384 of the Penal Code determines the punishment for a thief, including in the case of stealing money:

The thief's law

The thief is sentenced to three years in prison, unless another punishment has been prescribed for the theft due to its circumstances or the nature of the thing stolen.

According to Article 384, the penalty for a thief who steals money is three years in prison, unless there is another legal provision specifically related to the act of theft.

גניבת כסף על ידי אנשים "שקרובים לצלחת"

חוק העונשין מגדיר מספר עבירות ספציפיות המיועדות להתמודד עם אנשים שהייתה להם השפעה או "כוח" כלשהו או מעמד כלשהו שאפשר להם לבצע את הגניבה, והם ניצלו את הכוח הזה לרעה. לדוגמה: אנשי ציבור שגנבו כספים מהקופה הציבורית, עובדים בחברה שגנבו כספים מהחברה, וכו'. באותם מקרים עונשי המאסר עשויים להיות גבוהים במיוחד.

Theft by a public servant

390. A public servant who steals something that is state property or something that came into his possession by virtue of his employment, and whose value exceeds one thousand new shekels, is liable to ten years in prison.

Theft by an employee

391. An employee who steals something that is the property of his employer, or that came into the employee's possession for his employer, and its value exceeds one thousand new shekels, is liable to seven years' imprisonment.

Theft by the manager

392. A member of the board of directors or an officer of a corporation who steals something that is the property of the corporation is liable to seven years in prison.

Theft by an authorized person

393. Whoever does any of the following is liable to imprisonment for seven years:

(1) steals property that he received with a power of attorney to do with it;

(2) steals property that has been entrusted to him, alone or with another person, for the purpose of keeping it in safe custody or uses it or its value, all or part, for a particular purpose or delivers all or part of it to a particular person;

(3) steals property that he has received, alone or with another person, for or in favor of another person;

(4) Steals from the proceeds of a security, or of a transaction in property under a power of attorney, when he has received an instruction that it be used for a particular purpose or paid to a particular person.

Theft of money by a lawyer

Recently, there have been increasing reports in the media about cases of money theft by lawyers. These are cases in which lawyers steal trust funds or receive funds for the benefit of their clients, but instead of transferring the funds to the client, They are putting laxatives in their pockets..

Theft of money by a lawyer can be dealt with in three ways: 1. Filing Lawsuit against a lawyer 2. Submission of the refund; Complaint against a lawyer To the Bar Association, so that it can handle it at the disciplinary level (which could even lead to permanent expulsion from the Bar Association); 3. Filing a police complaint.

In many cases, lawyers are more afraid of filing a complaint with the Bar Association and may prefer to return the stolen funds to the client so that the punishment imposed on them will be lighter.

What to do after money is stolen?

After stealing money, you need to try and understand two main things: 1. How much money was stolen exactly; 2. Is it known who stole the money?

After initial investigation into these two points, you should immediately go to the police station nearest your home and file a complaint. It is very important to provide the investigator with all the information you have (references regarding the theft of money, information regarding the identity of the thief if you know it, as much as possible). Using a forged document or Signature forgery In order to steal the money, they presented the investigator with the forged documents.

If it is about stealing money through Credit card fraud or Telephone fraud It is important to contact the credit card company immediately so that they can block the card. If this is the caseTransferring funds from a bank account without authorization You should contact the bank immediately and inform them of this.

In a significant number of cases, the Israel Police will not be able to assist you in recovering the stolen funds, whether due to a lack of manpower and handling of more serious cases, or because the thief may claim that the funds are his and that there is a civil financial dispute between you (in which case the investigator will refer you to filing a lawsuit in court – for example in the case of Loan repayment claim).

However, it is important to file a complaint with the police because there is always a chance that the Israel Police will do their job faithfully and return the money, and in any case, it will be possible to use the confirmation of filing a complaint regarding the theft of money and attach it as an appendix within the framework of the Claim To be served according to your taste.

If you know the identity of the thief, do not hesitate and immediately file a lawsuit with the court. As part of the lawsuit, you should demand not only the stolen funds but also financial compensation. You should also consider filing an application for Temporary relief In the form of Bank account seizure or the thief's assets. If you do not do this, you may discover at the end of the proceedings that the thief has smuggled the funds or assets to a third party, and even if you win the lawsuit, you will not be able to get paid by the thief, even if you initiate enforcement proceedings against him. You must remember that the faster you act against the thief, the higher the chance of getting the funds back, in a shorter period of time.

In conclusion

Theft of money is a criminal offense that can lead to significant prison sentences. The more senior the person in a position of authority, the higher the prison sentence is likely to be.

After you discover that money has been stolen from you, you should immediately contact your nearest police station and file a complaint. Provide the investigator with any information that may assist in the investigation, and as much as you know, detail who stole the money or who you suspect.

Additionally, if you know the identity of the thief, you can file a lawsuit against him to recover the stolen funds. You can also demand financial compensation from the thief for the damages you suffered due to the theft of the funds.

Frequently asked questions about money theft