Bankruptcy Crimes
Bankruptcy Crimes
Several criminal situations exist when merchants are in bankruptcy. The criminal situations are described in Section 489 Sw., Section 489a Sw. and in Section 489b Sw. The following paragraph describes the two most common offenses.
The merchant or trading company that ceases to pay and has made commitments to the financial condition of the company for the benefit of third parties without having sufficient quid pro quo. This situation involves imprudent operations set up during the suspect period.
The second situation deals with failure to comply with various obligations imposed by Article 53 of the Bankruptcy Law. Examples of these obligations include: informing the trustee of any change of address, complying with all summonses of the bankruptcy judge,...
Four legal conditions must be met to constitute bankruptcy offenses.
- Person of the offender: the defendant must be in bankruptcy.
- Person of the offender: the defendant had the capacity of a merchant. This capacity must exist at the time of the acts but must not continue to exist during the prosecutions.
- Act: defendant has stopped paying in a sustained manner or his credit must have been shaken.
- An omission without fraudulent intent
It is not required that the debtor's default be general. The faltering of the credit must be considered established, this may be evidenced by the loss of confidence of creditors, suppliers,...
A crime related to the state of bankruptcy is punishable by imprisonment of one month to one year and a fine of 100 to 100,000 euros.
The amounts of this fine have yet to be multiplied by the opdeciemen. Right now, the opdeciemen are equal to 8. (fine amount x8)
