Buyer complained to Police

RFW

philatio wrote: »

We could have a whipround for him.

Seems a harsh punishment:D

Prothet_of_Doom

For there to be a conviction for fraud, there needs to be proper evidence. If you say "I posted it" there is no proof that you didn't. Unless a court can prove that you didn't post it, there can be no conviction under criminal law. You don't HAVE to prove that you posted it. They have to prove you didn't.
Maybe if they had a trail of buyers, who'd been sold the same laptop, they might have a case, but one random bloke with no criminal history ? If you have been arrested and are genuine, you need a solicitor, to put that point to the investigating officer for you.


Civil Law is different, and goes on the balance of probabilities. The judge will decide on what seems most likely.

DoctorFoster

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

For there to be a conviction for fraud, there needs to be proper evidence. If you say "I posted it" there is no proof that you didn't. Unless a court can prove that you didn't post it, there can be no conviction under criminal law. You don't HAVE to prove that you posted it. They have to prove you didn't.
Maybe if they had a trail of buyers, who'd been sold the same laptop, they might have a case, but one random bloke with no criminal history ? If you have been arrested and are genuine, you need a solicitor, to put that point to the investigating officer for you.


Civil Law is different, and goes on the balance of probabilities. The judge will decide on what seems most likely.

No they need to prove the defendant acted dishonestly, made a false representation with the intent of personal gain.
Proving they didn't post it would be almost impossible so by your logic not many frauds would be prosecuted.

hamperman

Don't worry I am still here and not trolling!!

Basically I couldn't find the tracking receipt. I contacted Royal Mail who said they only keep records by barcode and not the actual postcode. I tried going to the local post office and they said the same.

The police want to re-interview on my return to the station, I am not quite sure what to expect. How can I prove something from many months ago. We all throw things away.

DoctorFoster

hamperman wrote: »

Don't worry I am still here and not trolling!!

Basically I couldn't find the tracking receipt. I contacted Royal Mail who said they only keep records by barcode and not the actual postcode. I tried going to the local post office and they said the same.

The police want to re-interview on my return to the station, I am not quite sure what to expect. How can I prove something from many months ago. We all throw things away.

Have the police said they want to re interview you and if so about what?

hamperman

Well the police said they wish to reinterview me according to my solicitor, since i couldn't find the original receipt. Although she was going to ring the guy today and ask since it would be the same answers.

DoctorFoster

hamperman wrote: »

Well the police said they wish to reinterview me according to my solicitor, since i couldn't find the original receipt. Although she was going to ring the guy today and ask since it would be the same answers.

That's funny because the reason to bail a suspect is to conduct further enquiries. If you don't produce it what fresh evidence will they have to question you about?

If you do produce it, it will be a sit down on the cells while they verify the receipt is genuine. If it is end of case and no need to interview.

You're either making this up as you go along or you need a solicitor who knows what they are doing.

How long were you bailed for?

daytona0

You could try using "soft" evidence in the form of Previous adverts you have listed online and any tracking information at hand for these ones. This may convince that you are a legitimate seller (or not).


I am very concerned that the police have got involved though.... How has it not been possible for the buyer to get in touch with you within a reasonable time frame when you would have agreed the sale details via either email or phone? Either;

- You've done something dodgy and tried to hide, in which case you've now been arrested as a conclusion to the buyer hunting you down

- The buyer is trying it on big time


I do wonder why the buyer would go to the police if THEY Are the ones committing a fraud.. that is incredibly ballsy! Especially over a 250 pound laptop.... But maybe it is more low risk than a 3k car etc. Still, incredibly ballsy from the buyer. If the buyer is trying it on with you then they probably wouldn't want the police sniffing around.


I genuinely think that there is a high possibility that you are the one in the wrong here

hamperman

DoctorFoster wrote: »

That's funny because the reason to bail a suspect is to conduct further enquiries. If you don't produce it what fresh evidence will they have to question you about?

If you do produce it, it will be a sit down on the cells while they verify the receipt is genuine. If it is end of case and no need to interview.

You're either making this up as you go along or you need a solicitor who knows what they are doing.

How long were you bailed for?

I was bailed for a couple of weeks because I thought there was a slim chance I may have the postage receipt at home. So they gave me a few weeks to find it.

The guy in charge of the investigation rung me and asked how I was getting on, to which I said I had no luck yet.

My solicitor then called me to see how my progress was, I said I hadn't found it, but I was going to ask royal mail and the post office. At that point my solicitor said that the investigator guy will re-interview me if i cannot find the receipt. Or have no proof.

I called my solicitor the next day to explain the situation regarding royal mail and the post office only keeping records by barcodes. She then mentioned she was going to speak to the investigator to see why he wanted to reinterview me.

I know it's all very bizarre!

DoctorFoster

What evidence has been disclosed so far?

If they don't cancel your bail, expect to be charged.