The authors analyse
in detail some as of yet shrouded
dimensions of the crimi-
nal offence of business fraud as incriminated in Article 228 of the Slovenian
Criminal Code. Therefore, they enable one to make an authentic view of the
contradictory nature of the discussed criminal offence. The absence of the
causal nexus between concealment or transfer of certain facts, and a transfer
of wealth inevitably means that the discussed criminal offence partly suits the
criminal offence of embezzlement, rather
than that of fraud. The object which the discussed criminal offence
endangers (or harms) is, therefore, besides the wealth of the another, the confidentiality of the
business relationship between the parties. The authors also discuss dilemmas
that may be derived from the specific understanding of harm inflicted on another’s wealth as an element of the
criminal offence of business fraud, and also with questions regarding the
moment of its realisation. Sometimes, the authors also seek arguments for their conclusions
in examples from Anglo-Saxon legal systems, which are—when compared to
ours—completely different. It is
finally necessary to emphasise that certain authors’
conclusions, together with some older ones, accordantly question the conformity of the discussed
incrimination with the constitutional
principle lex certa.
Keywords: business fraud, fraud, embezzlement, another’s wealth,
confidential relationships, making off without payment, prohibited
consequence, perpetrator’s act, objective condition of criminalisation.