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WASHINGTON — Those who lie about military service or make false claims about receiving military medals with the intent of benefiting from those claims would be committing a crime under legislation passed by the House Wednesday.
The House's 410-3 vote on what is known as the Stolen Valor Act came less than three months after the Supreme Court struck down the original act on the grounds that it violated First Amendment free speech rights.
While it is reprehensible for someone to do this, does there really need to be a law against questionable character? If so, then they should go all the way and make it illegal to lie about anything. Make it a stiff 2 years in jail.
Think about it. People lie for personal gain all the time; politicians, bankers, police and lawyers are the worst. Catch them in a lie and it's jail. This would be good for society.
Fraud is generally defined in the law as an intentional misrepresentation of material existing fact made by one person to another with knowledge of its falsity and for the purpose of inducing the other person to act, and upon which the other person relies with resulting injury or damage. Fraud may also be made by an omission or purposeful failure to state material facts, which nondisclosure makes other statements misleading.
To constitute fraud, a misrepresentation or omission must also relate to an 'existing fact', not a promise to do something in the future, unless the person who made the promise did so without any present intent to perform it or with a positive intent not to perform it. Promises to do something in the future or a mere expression of opinion cannot be the basis of a claim of fraud unless the person stating the opinion has exclusive or superior knowledge of existing facts which are inconsistent with such opinion. The false statement or omission must be material, meaning that it was significant to the decision to be made.
raud covers a lot of ground, but it can be divided into more specific groups based on common actions, victims and charges: Credit card fraud: Includes unauthorized use of credit card information or personal information to obtain credit cards. May include actions taken to obtain credit card or personal information. Securities and investment fraud: A number of actions involving stocks and business fall into this category, including insider trading, "pump and dump" schemes, "boiler rooms" and Ponzi schemes. Communications and wire fraud: Fraud perpetrated over telecommunications, including Internet and telephones. May be charged in conjunction with other fraud offenses. Identity fraud: Also known as identity theft, includes illegal and unauthorized gain and use of personal information. May overlap with other types of fraud. Business fraud: May include fraud perpetrated by and against business. May involve embezzlement, false advertising, false billing and even bankruptcy fraud. False representation: Includes scams and charlatanism, from "Three Card Monte" games to marriage fraud. Bank and loan fraud: Opening up accounts under false identities, applying for loans with the intent to file bankruptcy, check forgery. Check fraud: Includes any attempt to obtain funds from a bank to which you are not entitled, from writing bad checks to check forgery. Tax evasion: Any attempts, by individuals or businesses, to avoid paying taxes owed, including hiding assets, understating income and overvaluing deductions. Insurance fraud: Efforts to claim benefits to which you are not entitled, also includes fraudulent Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid claims. Welfare Fraud: Providing fake identification, posing as someone else or lying about number of family members to collect welfare benefits to which you are not entitled.