Part 8Fraud, unlawful possession etc

Part 8—Fraud, unlawful possession etc 38A—Sale of books and educational matter (1) A person who, in order to induce another person to purchase or to agree to purchase books or other educational matter, states, holds out or represents, directly or indirectly, that he or she is a representative of, or is in any way connected with, or has the approval of, the Minister responsible for administration of the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 or the Education and Children's Services Act 2019, an administrative unit of the Public Service responsible to that Minister for the administration of those Acts or any educational institution under the control of, or connected with, the Government of the State is guilty of an offence. (2) If a person is induced to enter into an agreement to purchase books or other educational matter by unreasonable persuasion on the part of a person acting or appearing to act on behalf of the seller or the seller's agent, the agreement will be taken to have been induced by undue influence and is voidable at the option of the first mentioned person if repudiated by notice in writing given to the seller within a period of 28 days after the making of the agreement, and any affirmation of, or agreement purporting to waive any right to avoid, the agreement to purchase will, upon the giving of the notice, be void and of no effect. 39—Valueless cheques (1) A person who obtains any chattel, money, valuable security, credit, benefit or advantage by passing a cheque which is not paid on presentation is guilty of an offence. (2) It is a defence to a charge for an offence against subsection (1) to prove that the defendant— (a) had reasonable grounds for believing that the cheque would be paid in full on presentation; and (b) had no intent to defraud. (3) The fact that at the time when the cheque was passed there were some funds to the credit of the account on which the cheque was drawn is not of itself a defence. 40—Acting as a spiritualist, medium etc with intent to defraud A person who, with intent to defraud, purports to act as a spiritualist or medium, or to exercise powers of telepathy or clairvoyance or other similar powers, is guilty of an offence. 41—Unlawful possession of personal property (1) A person who has possession of personal property which, either at the time of possession or at any subsequent time before the making of a complaint under this section in respect of the possession, is reasonably suspected of having been stolen or obtained by unlawful means, is guilty of an offence. (2) It is a defence to a charge for an offence against this section to prove that the defendant obtained possession of the property honestly. (3) If personal property is proved to have been in the possession of a person, whether in a building or otherwise and whether the possession had been parted with before the hearing or not, it will, for the purposes of this section, be taken to have been in the possession of that person.