Deposit error in current account and theft by finding

Abstract

According to the legislative history of article 448 of the Chilean Venal Code, and to the constraining principles of the state-punish, such as the principle of legality, the principle of minimum intervention and the Criminal Law characteristic of being the "ultima ratio", it is possible to conclude that the account holder of a current account does not commit the crime of "theft by finding" when instructing withdrawals of funds mistakenly credited to his account; instead, he is bound to refund what was not due to him, with or without interests depending on whether he acted on bad or good faith, as prescribed by the rules of the quasi-contract ofindebiti solutio.