Legal Literacy - We often hear about the crime of receiving stolen goods. Have you ever known what the article formulates in the criminal code? Is every purchase of stolen goods (which we do not know) always considered receiving stolen goods? Let's look at the explanation in the following article!

Understanding the Crime of Receiving Stolen Goods

Receiving stolen goods is a crime involving property, which means an attack on other people's interests in the property or wealth they own. The terminology of criminal law explains that receiving stolen goods is an act of deliberately wanting to gain profit from goods originating from a crime, by buying, selling, renting, receiving pawn, pawning, or storing goods.

Receiving stolen goods can occur because of the perpetrator's desire to obtain profits from the proceeds of crime because goods obtained from crime are much cheaper than normal prices on the market. The phenomenon of receiving stolen goods crimes is suspected to be related to economic factors related to increasing daily needs, increasingly expensive basic necessities, a lack of available jobs in society, competition, and other conflicts of interest.

Formulation of the Crime of Receiving Stolen Goods

Based on the form and severity of the receiving stolen goods, the crime of receiving stolen goods is divided into 3 (three) types, namely: ordinary receiving stolen goods, receiving stolen goods as a habit, and petty receiving stolen goods.

Ordinary Receiving Stolen Goods or Receiving Stolen Goods in Basic Form

The crime of ordinary receiving stolen goods is regulated in Article 480 of Law Number 1 of 1946 concerning Criminal Law Regulations (KUHP) is threatened with a maximum imprisonment of 4 (four) years or a maximum fine of Rp. 900.00 (nine hundred rupiah), namely “anyone who buys, rents, receives exchanges, receives pawn, receives as a gift, or because of the desire to receive profit, sells, exchanges, pawns, carries, stores or hides an item that he knows or should suspect is obtained because of a crime.” In addition, receiving stolen goods also means that if it is known or should be suspected that the item was obtained from a criminal act, the perpetrator takes profit from the proceeds of an item.

In the new Criminal Code Article 591 of Law Number 1 of 2023, the crime of ordinary receiving stolen goods is threatened with a maximum imprisonment of 4 (four) years or a maximum fine of category V of Rp. 500,000,000.00 (five hundred million rupiah).

Ordinary receiving stolen goods is a combination of intentional and negligent offenses, which is marked by the words “should be able to know” that the item comes from a crime. This is called the offense of pro parte doleus pro parte culpa or half intentional and half negligent.

Receiving Stolen Goods as a Habit

The crime of receiving stolen goods which is carried out as a habit or has been carried out more than once or even repeatedly or is also referred to as gewoonteheling is regulated in Article 481 of the Criminal Code with a maximum imprisonment of 7 (seven) years and revocation of the rights contained in Article 35 Number 1-4 if receiving stolen goods is carried out as a livelihood.

In the new Criminal Code, it is regulated in Article 592 of Law Number 1 of 2023 with a maximum imprisonment of 6 (six) years or a maximum fine of category V and revocation of rights if receiving stolen goods is carried out as a livelihood. The revocation of rights referred to includes: The right to hold public office in general or certain positions, the right to become TNI and Polri, the right to vote and be elected in elections held in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations, and/or the right to obtain parole.

Petty Receiving Stolen Goods

Article 482 of the Criminal Code is the legal basis for the crime of petty receiving stolen goods caused by the following crimes: Petty theft (Article 346 of the Criminal Code), Petty embezzlement (Article 373 of the Criminal Code), Petty fraud (Article 379 of the Criminal Code). The criminal provisions regulated in Article 482 of the Criminal Code, the perpetrator intends or has the intention to commit the act of buying, renting, exchanging, pawning, or receiving as a gift or gift. The perpetrator also intends to obtain profits such as selling, renting, exchanging, transporting, and hiding the proceeds of petty crimes. Threatened with a maximum imprisonment of three months or a maximum fine of Rp. 900.00 (nine hundred rupiah).

In the new Criminal Code, petty receiving stolen goods is regulated in Article 593 of Law Number 1 of 2023, namely a criminal act where the value of the goods is no more than Rp. 500,000.00 (five hundred thousand rupiah) is threatened with a maximum fine of category II or Rp. 10,000,000.00 (ten million rupiah).

The Crime of Receiving Stolen Goods is a Formal Offense

In terms of its formulation, the provisions of offenses in the Criminal Code are divided into two, namely formal offenses and material offenses. A formal offense is an act that is prohibited and threatened with punishment and is considered complete or fulfilled if the act is carried out without mentioning the consequences caused by the act. A material offense is an act that causes a certain consequence, without formulating the form of the act.

The crime of receiving a stolen motorcycle is a formal offense, namely the existence of the crime of receiving a stolen motorcycle is sufficient if the elements of the act formulated are fulfilled, not by the consequences arising from the act. In other words, the offense or act is considered complete or finished if the act is carried out by the perpetrator without further looking at the consequences arising from the act or not correlating it with the consequences of the act.

Receiving Stolen Motor Vehicles

Motor vehicle theft is increasingly widespread in big cities with various modes of operandi carried out by perpetrators of motor vehicle theft. The perpetrators carry out their evil acts by storing, hiding, selling, transporting goods originating from crimes in the form of stolen goods and generating profits which are also called heling.

Case example: A steals a motorcycle without license plates and vehicle ownership documents, then A pawns the motorcycle to B at a price much cheaper than the usual pawn price. In this case, B should reasonably suspect or know that the origin of the goods, such as the motorcycle, comes from a crime because the motorcycle is not equipped with valid documents such as the Vehicle Registration Certificate (STNK) and Proof of Motor Vehicle Ownership (BPKB).

In this case, "intent to gain profit" is an element of the offense of receiving stolen goods because B gains profit by making cheaper pawn payments. B should not need to know for certain the origin of the goods from what criminal act, but B only needs to be able to suspect that the goods are not legal goods.

References

  • Hamzah, Andi. Specific Offenses (Special Delicten) in the Criminal Code. Jakarta: Sinar Grafika, 2014.
  • Hamzah, Andi. Criminal Law Terminology. Jakarta: Sinar Grafika, 2013.