Definitions for "False pretenses"
Purposely misrepresenting a fact or condition in order to obtain another's money or goods.
This is when an individual intentionally makes lies to fraudulently receive money or goods.
Representation of some fact or circumstance which is not true and is calculated to mislead, whereby a person obtains another's money or goods.
False pretenses or obtaining property by false pretensesThe use of the word "pretenses" here is perhaps slightly confusing to a modern reader since "pretense", in the modern sense of the word, is the conscious creation of fiction, but in the former sense of the word, as it was borrowed from the French language, it simply meant "claim" or sometimes "belief". See also Pretender for another case of confusion on this point. In certain other cases, the distinction between the two definitions affects the meaning only slightly, as in "John pretends to a great knowledge of world history", which to the speaker clearly refers to something untrue, but more in the nature of wishful thinking on the part of John himself than a lie as St Augustine would define it (requiring the liar to be conscious of the untruth). is a common law crime in the United States, where its statutory forms handle situations not covered by the definition of larceny.