Yeah, that part confused me to. I'm pretty sure that if I bought a stolen xbox from some guy on a street corner and the Police find me with it, they'd not throw up their hands and say "oh well, I guess you own it now, on your way".
I assume there is a specific legal quirk with property ownership.
I believe the 'quirk' here is that the fraud was able to get property ownership updated with the Land Registry, so the new owner is the official owner of record.
Interesting side note. That's true for property, but not for cash.
Cash is legally considered fungible. So, if someone steals a bunch of cash and buys something from you with it, even though that specific cash technically belonged to someone else before theft, it can't be reclaimed even if they can prove it.
I'm aware of this, but I do wonder what happens if, rather than using the stolen cash to purchase goods, the thief gave away the money? Either to friends, a random homeless person on the street, or to registered charities. Would that be still considered unreclaimable?
No. If you bought it, you own it. The thief now owes the original owner damages. This is true in the United States and I assume England since it's old common law stuff.
It's why thieves try to steal and then turn over immediately.
No, that’s not correct in the US. If you buy stolen property unknowingly, it can be taken away from you.
Had my TV stolen, it ended up in a pawn shop. Luckily, I had receipt and serial number. There was some paperwork and court order but pawnshop had to return TV to me.
The quirk is that in the UK you’re not a free man but only a subject and in the end the crown owns everything and now fuck off, filthy peasant, before the king sends his men.
This is true in practice pretty much everywhere governments exist though, it's not really a monarchy versus republic thing. The stick is no less painful if it's called "society's stick" rather than "the King's stick" if the government of the day decide to beat you with it.
Is this really different than any other country? Any government (at least in uncontested territories) can come in and tell you to fuck off, and there's really very little you can do about it.
dtparr|4 years ago
thereddaikon|4 years ago
dgb23|4 years ago
anonporridge|4 years ago
Cash is legally considered fungible. So, if someone steals a bunch of cash and buys something from you with it, even though that specific cash technically belonged to someone else before theft, it can't be reclaimed even if they can prove it.
jakeinspace|4 years ago
iammisc|4 years ago
It's why thieves try to steal and then turn over immediately.
amerkhalid|4 years ago
Had my TV stolen, it ended up in a pawn shop. Luckily, I had receipt and serial number. There was some paperwork and court order but pawnshop had to return TV to me.
kybernetyk|4 years ago
BoxOfRain|4 years ago
thesuitonym|4 years ago