Q: If a person pawns items they don't own, but retrieve items and return to owner w/o anyone knowing, can they be charged?
A:
Interesting fact pattern for certain. The crime (False Declaration of Ownership) was completed when you signed the document alleging you have owned the property for a certain period of time. The fact that you retrieve it later and make everything right would certainly be an extenuating circumstance that, I would imagine, the government would need to take into consideration, hopefully at the outset before they approve or decline charges.
Keep your fingers crossed. If someone contacts you to ask you questions related to this, do not speak to them, immediately contact an attorney. Best of luck!
Stanislav Kshevitskii agrees with this answer
A:
The answer depends, among other things, on how a person got access to these items. If a person has been entrusted with material assets belonging to his employer in connection with the performance of his official duties at work, then his actions will be recognized as abuse of official position. If a person illegally received items by committing another crime, for example, secretly entered the premises of the owner of the items, then his actions may additionally be regarded as theft.
The return of items can only be recognized as a mitigating circumstance, or it can be recognized as a way to conceal traces of a crime.
The circumstances of this crime must be carefully analyzed in relation to a particular jurisdiction.
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