Regina versus Minh Khuan Mac: The Law with Respect to Credit Card Forgery

Leyton-Brown, Ken, Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services

Charges in this case arose out of a lengthy police investigation in Ontario of three individuals allegedly involved in a variety of criminal enterprises. The investigation resulted in a 31-count indictment based on a number of sections of the criminal code. Minh Khuan Mac was named in seven of the charges and, in 1997, was convicted in an Ontario court on five counts relating to the manufacturing and selling of forged credit cards (Regina v. Minh Khuan Mac, 1997). The five charges were all laid under Section 396(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada (1984) that reads as follows:

369. Exchequer bill paper, public seals, etc.--Every one who, without lawful authority or excuse ...

(b) makes, offers or disposes of, or knowingly has in his possession, any plate, die, machinery, instrument or other writing or material that is adapted and intended to be used to commit forgery ... is guilty of an indictable offence.

That police investigators had found materials and machines capable of being used to manufacture forged credit cards was not in dispute. The court also heard evidence that the defendant could be said to be "in possession" of these materials and machines, and that he was intending to use them to commit forgery. However, questions were raised at trial about the meaning of the word "adapted" as used in the above section of the Criminal Code of Canada. Specifically, defence counsel claimed that the use of this word meant that it was an essential element of the offence that the "plate, die, machinery, instrument or other writing or material" that was the subject of the …

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Publication information: Article title: Regina versus Minh Khuan Mac: The Law with Respect to Credit Card Forgery. Contributors: Leyton-Brown, Ken - Author. Journal title: Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services. Volume: 1. Issue: 1 Publication date: March 2003. Page number: 72. © 2006 Meritus Solutions, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

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