Khaberni - In an unprecedented incident, the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior announced that the Public Funds Crime Prevention Sector successfully apprehended an individual who seized monetary amounts transferred to his bank account by mistake and refused to return them to their owner.
The details of the incident go back to a citizen, residing in Nasr City, who made two bank transfers via an "Internet Banking" application, only to discover later that he had sent the money to another account by mistake.
However, when he tried to contact the account owner to reclaim the money, his request was denied.
Crime of misappropriating another's property
Legal experts confirmed that refusing to return the money transferred by mistake is considered a crime of misappropriating another's property according to the Egyptian Penal Code, and the perpetrator can be punished with imprisonment or a fine as determined by the court.
Mohamed Rashwan, a lawyer at the Court of Cassation, stated in a comment for "Alarabiya.net" and "Alhaddath.net" that the Ministry of Interior's announcement of arresting an individual who refused to return the mistakenly transferred money is a new development in line with the digital age.
He also confirmed that this announcement has pleased a significant segment of citizens who had faced similar issues in the past and found no clear solutions.
Legal accountability from another angle
He added that the most prominent legal question in this incident is: What charge can be directed at the person who received the amount by mistake? He explained that the case does not involve any traditional criminal suspicion such as theft, fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation, but it remains subject to legal accountability from another angle.
Furthermore, Rashwan pointed out that there are banking laws that criminalize retaining money transferred by mistake because the bank is considered a party to the transaction, making the incident closer to misappropriation of public funds or misappropriation of funds without right, emphasizing that the police fully performed their role by apprehending the suspect and preserving the necessary evidence. He continued, saying that the next phase concerns the Public Prosecution, which is expected to describe the incident and determine the appropriate legal classification, given that it is a recent precedent in the Egyptian legal reality representing an important shift in protecting citizens' rights and keeping up with technological advancements in financial transactions.
Rashwan also noted that unintentional transfer and the recipient's refusal to return the amount might constitute the criminal intent in a crime of misappropriating money, pointing out that the Public Prosecution may classify the incident as embezzlement of public funds if it considers the bank a direct party, or as a crime of misappropriating another's property without right.
No crime without legal accountability
On his part, lawyer Ahmed Hajjaj, in a special statement to "Alarabiya.net" and "Alhadath.net", pointed out that the Egyptian Penal Code issued in 1937, and the Criminal Procedure Law issued in 1950, were established at a time when modern electronic banking transactions were not known, and thus these types of incidents were not directly subject to legislative regulation. He clarified that this does not mean the absence of accountability, as a crime cannot occur without legal accountability, indicating that the incident in question is legally considered a theft because it does not comply with the descriptions of other property offenses such as misappropriation or fraud.
He added that the Egyptian Civil Code defines a mistake as "error", which is one of the defects of will, explaining that if something is delivered to someone by mistake, it must be returned immediately, and if the recipient refuses to return it, the act falls under the category of theft. He noted that theft in Egyptian law is defined as "misappropriating movable property owned by others with the intent to own it," stating that the accused in this case could be punished according to Article 311 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that the crime of theft is misappropriating movable property owned by others with the intent to own it without right.
It is worth mentioning that this incident has pleased a large segment of Egyptians who had faced similar issues in the past and did not find a solution to them.
