Introduction

Matrix organization

Mergers by absorption

Risks related to the expansion of the scope of criminal liability of legal entities

Validity conditions

Proof of delegation

Exemption from individual liability of delegator

Attribution of offense to legal entity

Delegations of authority

Criminal risk management within business organizations

Complicity in crimes against humanity

Breaches of secrecy

Personal data breaches

Theft

Extortion

Blackmail

Fraud

Misappropriation

Receiving/concealment of unlawfully obtained property (recel)

Attacks on automated data processing systems

Money laundering

Misappropriation by public official (concussion)

Corruption and influence peddling

Unlawful acquisition of an interest

Favoritism

Forgery and use of forgeries

Violation of Criminal Code

Offenses under the Monetary and Financial Code

Offenses under the Commercial Code

Environmental Code violations

Offenses arising from other codes

Types of offenses

Offenses under the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, or the Environmental Code, Criminal procedure

White Collar Crime (en cours)

Articles L. 241-3, 2° and L. 242-6, 1° of the Commercial Code punish the distribution of fictitious dividends in the absence of an inventory or when it occurs through inventory fraud. Any natural or legal person who qualifies as a merchant must record the accounting movements affecting the assets of their undertaking and verify, by inventory, at least once every twelve months, the existence and va …

Absence of inventory or falsified inventory

Articles L. 241-3, 2° and L. 242-6, 1° of the Commercial Code punish the distribution of fictitious dividends in the absence of an inventory or when it occurs through inventory fraud. Any natural or legal person who qualifies as a merchant must record the accounting movements affecting the assets of their undertaking and verify, by inventory, at least once every twelve months, the existence and value of the active and passive elements of the undertaking's assets. Based on the records and the prepared inventory, the company establishes the annual accounts at the close of each fiscal year, which include the balance sheet, the income statement, and an appendix, forming an indivisible whole (Art. L. 123-12 and L. 232-1 Commercial Code).

The inventory and the balance sheet are often confused by the courts, which use them as synonyms . The applicable legislative and regulatory provisions encourage this assimilation. Indeed, according to Article L. 123-13 of the Commercial Code, the balance sheet separately describes the assets and liabilities of the undertaking, and Article R. 123-177 defines the inventory as the annual verification of the existence and value of all asset and liability items at the closing date. In any case, failing to prepare the inventory  or present it to the general meeting of shareholders, when it is inaccurate, constitutes the prerequisite for the characterization of the offense of distributing fictitious dividends, since before the distribution, the annual accounts are supposed to be prepared, presented, or published, providing a true and fair view to shareholders and third parties of the results of the operations of the financial year, the financial situation, and the actual assets of the company (L. 123-14 Commercial Code).

The inventory may simply not have been prepared or may have been prepared inaccurately and fraudulently, that is, by showing a nonexistent profit or an artificially inflated profit. This will be the case of an undervaluation and insufficient provision for doubtful debts that concealed the company's truly severely deficient situation , anomalies in stocks through fictitious inflation in the financial statements without which the company's balance sheets would have been deficient , the entry in the balance sheet of receivables that are difficult to realize and due in the distant future, which should not have been recorded at their nominal value , or the accounting of false invoices that allowed for the presentation of inflated profit and revenue, whereas there was actually a significant loss that prevented any distribution of dividends .

Cass. crim., 22 September 2004, LawLex202300000132JBJ; 8 July 2015, LawLex202300000131JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 June 1989, LawLex202300002265JBJ.

Cass. crim., 10 March 2004, LawLex202300000183JBJ.

Cass. crim., 22 September 2004, LawLex202300000132JBJ.

Cass. crim., 22 January 1937, LawLex202300000800JBJ.

Cass. crim., 8 July 2015, LawLex202300000131JBJ.

White Collar Crime (en cours)

208. Absence of inventory or falsified inventory

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

208. Absence of inventory or falsified inventory

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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