Opinion ID: 2156908
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Fraudulent-Practices Charge.

Text: In challenging his conviction for fraudulent practices, defendant urges that the evidence did not indicate that he acted fraudulently in completing the application for a duplicate certificate of title. Two statutes come into play with regard to defendant's fraudulent-practices conviction. Iowa Code section 714.8(10) provides: A person who does any of the following acts is guilty of a fraudulent practice: .... 10. Does any act expressly declared to be a fraudulent practice by any other section of the Code. Iowa Code section 321.97 provides: Any person who fraudulently uses a false or fictitious name in any application for the registration of, or certificate of title to, a vehicle ... is guilty of a fraudulent practice. Once again, this is a situation in which intent to defraud may be inferred from the actions taken. The jury could find from the evidence that defendant's attempt to obtain a certificate of title by giving false identification was an attempt to secure a muniment of title to a motor vehicle that he could not have obtained by using his true name. Indeed, that conclusion is inescapable from the evidence. As we stated in regard to the fraud element of the forgery charge, to deliberately make false statements or give false information in order to gain some advantage is to act with fraudulent intent. The jury had sufficient evidence to convict defendant of a fraudulent practice.