Opinion ID: 3064913
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Heading: Obtaining Property by Fraud

Text: Under California law, “fraud is a species of theft.” People v. Sanchez, 6 Cal. Rptr. 3d 271, 277 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004). Other than Cal. Penal Code § 484(a), we have not been able to identify any California statute criminalizing the taking by fraud of motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts. CARRILLO-JAIME v. HOLDER 8897 Theft under Cal. Penal Code § 484(a) includes the taking of property through fraud.1 See Cal. Penal Code § 484(a) (“Every person . . . who shall fraudulently appropriate property . . . or who shall knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud any other person of . . . personal property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth . . . and . . . thus . . . obtains credit and thereby fraudulently gets or obtains possession of . . . property . . . is guilty of theft.”) (emphasis added); cf. Sanchez, 6 Cal. Rptr. 3d at 278 (holding that “a conviction for receiving stolen property and a conviction for operating a chop shop would be duplicative,” even though one could be convicted of the latter when vehicles are obtained exclusively through fraud); People v. Rodriguez, 2004 WL 2486649 (Ct. App. Nov. 4, 2004) (same); People v. Nguyen, 2003 WL 23002715 (Ct. App. Dec. 23, 2003) (same); People v. King, 96 Cal. Rptr. 2d 817 (Ct. App. 2000) (same). But see People v. Strohman, 101 Cal. Rptr. 2d 520, 521 (Ct. App. 2000) (“[P]roperty acquired through fraud, for example, would not fall under the definition of receiving stolen property.”). [10] Because “fraud” under Cal. Veh. Code § 10801 is based on Cal. Penal Code § 484(a), which includes fraud in the inducement, the analysis relevant to the consent of the owner is analogous to the analysis in the previous section. We therefore conclude that one can obtain property by fraud under Cal. Penal Code § 484(a) with the consent of the owner.