2C :20-9 . Theft by failure to make required disposition of property received
Theft by Failure to Make Required Disposition of Property Received. A
person who purposely obtains or retains property upon agreement or
subject to a known legal obligation to make specified payment or other
disposition, whether from such property or its proceeds or from his own
property to be reserved in equivalent amount, is guilty of theft if he
deals with the property obtained as his own and fails to make the
required payment or disposition. The foregoing applies notwithstanding
that it may be impossible to identify particular property as belonging
to the victim at the time of the actor's failure to make the required
payment or disposition. An officer or employee of the government or of a
financial institution is presumed: (a) to know any legal obligation
relevant to his criminal liability under this section, and (b) to have
dealt with the property as his own if he fails to pay or account upon
lawful demand, or if an audit reveals a shortage or falsification of
accounts. The fact that any payment or other disposition was made with a
subsequently dishonored negotiable instrument shall constitute prima
facie evidence of the actor's failure to make the required payment or
disposition, and the trier of fact may draw a permissive inference
therefrom that the actor did not intend to make the required payment or
other disposition.
L.1978, c.95; amended by L. 1987, c. 76, s. 32.
