CRIME OF FENCING – The Anti-Fencing Law or Presidential Decree No. 1612 imposes sanctions on anyone found guilty of knowingly purchasing or selling stolen goods. (Photo by Ali Vicoy)

There’s a saying that goes: If it’s too good to be true, then it’s not.

That saying goes well for merchandise being sold at a very cheap price, which attracts people to buy it. The demand for cheap goods has enticed some merchants and buyers to source cheaper products to buy and sell, even if there is a possibility that those are stolen goods.

If you are a seller or buyer, beware of products that seem too cheap. If those items turn out to be stolen goods, there is the Anti-Fencing Law or Presidential Decree No. 1612 that imposes a sanction. Possession of stolen goods is considered “fencing” and it is a crime.

The Anti-Fencing Law was created to address “rampant robbery and thievery of government and private properties,” from which culprits profited because of people willing to pay for stolen products.

Fencing is defined by the law as the “act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall buy, receive, possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of, or shall buy and sell, or in any other manner deal in any article, item, object or anything of value which he knows, or should be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.”

Under Section 5, “mere possession of any good, article, item, object, or anything of value which has been the subject of robbery or thievery” constitutes prima facie evidence of fencing.

An individual or company who engages in fencing activities is called a “fence.”

The Anti-Fencing Law was recently given attention when a 23-year-old pharmacy assistant was arrested in Las Piñas City for selling an Apple mobile phone which had been reported stolen.

The report said the mobile phone that the suspect attempted to sell was originally worth P37,000.

In January, six people were arrested in Pasay City for selling stolen ready-to-wear goods online. The report said 15 boxes of ready-to-wear items valued at P148,500 were recovered from the suspects.

A person found guilty of fencing will be penalized with a jail term that will be according to the amount of the stolen item. The higher the price of the stolen item involved, the longer the prison term for the one proven guilty.

Even selling or owning a stolen item that is worth P5 or less can get the guilty party a prison time of one to two months.

If the item is valued from P5 to P50, the jail time will increase to two months and one day to four months, according to the law.

From there, the punishment of jail term increases. It can get as long as four to six years for items valued up to P12,000, and even up to 12 years for items valued at P22,000.

According to the law, an item purchased or sold for above P22,000 can get the guilty party a jail term of up to 10 years to 12 years. The law will add a year for every P10,000 but must not exceed 20 years.