The owner of a piece of land had entrusted it to a company for the purpose of burying waste and it appeared that waste from an unspecified source had also been buried.
Using real estate beyond what is agreed with its owner is a breach of trust which can be criminally punished. The Court of Cassation, which until now excluded that a breach of trust could relate to a building, but mainly to funds, values or movable property, has changed its case law.
Breach of trust is defined by law as the act of misappropriating these funds, values or property of any kind by making a use of them other than that for which they were only entrusted. The “any property” can be real estate, the Court of Cassation now judges. The owner of a plot of land had entrusted it to a company for the burying of waste and it later emerged that waste from a non-agreed source had also been buried, this additional quantity reducing the remaining capacity of the land .
The perpetrator secretly made a profit
The non-agreed use of this property, by a person who behaves as an owner, even momentarily, is a misappropriation, declared the judges to condemn the author of these concealed facts. Because the perpetrator secretly made a profit from the property, which at the same time reduced its capacity for the future, which characterizes abusive and criminally reprehensible use.
In its judgment, the Court of Cassation recalls that all kinds of assets can be the subject of a breach of trust. A bank card number or a professional internet connection, she cites, when they are used for a time or for operations that were not agreed with the owner.