Falsification of Public Documents

• Falsification involves a public official, employee, or notary taking advantage of their position to falsify documents, potentially affecting civil status if the offender is an ecclesiastical minister.
• Key element requires a written statement establishing a right or extinguishing an obligation.
• Documents can be either public or official.

Public vs Private Documents

• Public documents are notarized and become part of the public record, involving official acts by public officers and acknowledgments before a notary public.
• Private documents lack intervention from notaries or authorized public persons.

Official vs Commercial Documents

• Official documents are mandated by law, made in official capacity.
• Commercial ones adhere to mercantile laws.
• Falsification can occur even without a genuine document, through simulating or fabricating one.
• Intent to gain is not required. The violation of public faith and destruction of truth are the punishable acts, even without causing damage.

Acts Constituting Falsification

• Activities include counterfeiting and imitating signatures.
• Feigning involves creating a nonexistent signature for forgery.
• Showing intent requires sufficient resemblance between genuine and forged signatures.
• Causing it to appear that someone participated where they did not is falsification.

Untruthful Statements

• Making untruthful statements requires a legal obligation to disclose the truth.
• Made with a wrongful intent or to injure a third person.
• Good faith can be a defense.
• However it is not if intent is obvious/presumed.
• Altering true dates is considered falsification.
• With essential alterations affecting the document's veracity or effects.

Alteration/Intercalation in Genuine Document

• Requires a change or insertion on a document.
• The genuine document changes meaning due to the alteration.
• Falsification is still not alteration if which speaks the truth.
• Issuing an authenticated document that the information is false is falsification.
• Falsification under Art. 172 applies to private individuals falsifying public, official, or commercial documents.

Falsification of Private Documents

• Requires damage to a third party/intent to cause damage.
• Includes an intent to cause damage by independent act, also when there is damage to honour.
• Use of falsified document in court: has to be known to be falsififed
• Made with intent to cause damage.
• A complex crime (falsification + estafa) needs intent separate.
• Estafa involves defrauding another through abuse of confidence or deceit which creates damage.

Estafa by Altering Substance/Quality

• Estafa can also occur by altering the substance, quantity, or quality of something of value that the offender is obligated to deliver, even if the obligation is based on an immoral/illegal consideration.
• Altering of it causes damage to a person.
• No estafa occurs if there was no agreement regarding the quality.
• Altering illegal deliveries is still estafa.
• Committing estafa is possible by misappropriating or converting money, goods, or other personal property received in trust.

Estafa

• Requires a demand made by the offended party to the offender
• Ways of committing estafa: misappropriating, converting, or denying receipt of funds.
• Money must be willingly be given for estafa.
• If ownership is transferred to the offender
• It is not estafa as the loan has been secured.
• Criminal liabilty is not affected by novation when committing estafa.
• Failure to account money is evidence by misappropriation.

Blank Signatures

• Estafa can occur by taking advantage of a blank signature, where a document is written above it without authorization.
• Estafa by deceit requires a false pretense before or during the fraud, with reliance from the offended party.
• Using a fictitious name is a way of committing this.
• False pretense must be able to gain something fron deceived.

Post-Dated Checks

• Post-dating a check with insufficient funds is estafa.
• Failure to cover the check deposit within 3 days shows deceit.
• B.P. makes issuing a check with insufficent funds illegal.
• Good fait is no defense for this.
• BP 22 can be applied to obligation or merely guarantee.
• BP 22 is used when drawees fail to maintain suffiecient funds
• Must maintain funds for 90 days from listed time,.
• Knowledge is prima facie evidence when presented within 90 days
• Demand isn't specified.

Fraud

• Drawee must indicate notice of refuse. -Must be wriitten
• Can be under both RPC and BP22
• Albeit no double jeopardy.
• Still punishable if already convicted.
• Significant periods: 5, 90, 180 days listed in details.
• Drawer must be proven to receive.
• Conveys property pretending to be so even if not real.
• Fraudulent selling of same property
• Encroaching and using deceit is estafa.

More Deceits

• Requires false pretense+damage/prejudice
• Examples listed.
• Syyndicated estafa is when multiple ppl misappropriate money and stocks .
• At least 5 people syndicate.

Theft

• Taking property without concent but also without force
• Finding lost property without reporting
• Maliciousy and d removing fruits as well
• Consummated when used and shop is left.
• Domestic, grave confidence, large property =instances
• Force, intimidation= NOT theft and is instead robbery instead

Bribery

-Applies to public officer

• Offerrer must take gift and can result in crime