ACFE CFE - Law (Certified Fraud Examiner - Law) Practice Test 16

Question 150

A public issuer omits a material risk that makes its statements misleading to investors. Which securities-law issue arises?

  1. Misstatement in a securities offering
  2. Insider-trading liability
  3. Unsuitable investment recommendation
  4. Material omission

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Securities antifraud rules can prohibit material omissions in statements when the governing duty and other liability elements are met.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Knowing or otherwise actionable material false statements in an offering may trigger civil or criminal liability under the relevant securities provision; the relevant step in this scenario is Material omission.

B:

Insider trading can arise from transactions exploiting material nonpublic information under applicable duty, scienter and securities-law doctrines; here the operative distinction is Material omission.

C:

Broker-dealer suitability or best-interest obligations depend on role and jurisdiction, and address recommendations inconsistent with client circumstances; those prerequisites should not be confused with Material omission.

Question 151

A promoter invents performance numbers in an offering to induce purchases. Which securities-law theory fits?

  1. Material omission
  2. Unsuitable investment recommendation
  3. Misstatement in a securities offering
  4. Insider-trading liability

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Knowing or otherwise actionable material false statements in an offering may trigger civil or criminal liability under the relevant securities provision.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Securities antifraud rules can prohibit material omissions in statements when the governing duty and other liability elements are met; misstatement in a securities offering raises a different threshold from this alternative.

B:

Broker-dealer suitability or best-interest obligations depend on role and jurisdiction, and address recommendations inconsistent with client circumstances; that concept must be distinguished from Misstatement in a securities offering here.

D:

Insider trading can arise from transactions exploiting material nonpublic information under applicable duty, scienter and securities-law doctrines; the circumstances point to Misstatement in a securities offering rather than that separate test.

Question 152

A broker recommends investments unsuited to a retail client's profile despite governing conduct duties. Which regulatory concern may arise?

  1. Unsuitable investment recommendation
  2. Material omission
  3. Insider-trading liability
  4. Misstatement in a securities offering

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Broker-dealer suitability or best-interest obligations depend on role and jurisdiction, and address recommendations inconsistent with client circumstances.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Securities antifraud rules can prohibit material omissions in statements when the governing duty and other liability elements are met; the inquiry instead concerns Unsuitable investment recommendation, with its own elements.

C:

Insider trading can arise from transactions exploiting material nonpublic information under applicable duty, scienter and securities-law doctrines; the relevant step in this scenario is Unsuitable investment recommendation.

D:

Knowing or otherwise actionable material false statements in an offering may trigger civil or criminal liability under the relevant securities provision; here the operative distinction is Unsuitable investment recommendation.

Question 153

An enterprise shows repeated specified racketeering acts linked by relationship and continuity. Which U.S. statute may be considered?

  1. Enterprise conduct nexus
  2. RICO predicate-offense requirement
  3. Civil RICO claim
  4. RICO pattern requirement

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

RICO requires a legally qualifying pattern of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise and other elements; two isolated wrongs are not automatically enough.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Certain RICO provisions require participation in the operation or management of the enterprise's affairs through the prohibited pattern; rICO pattern requirement addresses the distinct legal requirement stated in the facts.

B:

Racketeering allegations need statutorily enumerated predicate crimes and other elements; a generic workplace violation cannot substitute for them; rICO pattern requirement raises a different threshold from this alternative.

C:

A private plaintiff meeting the statute's standing, causation and injury requirements may seek specified civil remedies, including treble damages; that concept must be distinguished from RICO pattern requirement here.

Question 154

A manager participates in an enterprise's affairs through qualifying racketeering activity. Which RICO feature is relevant?

  1. RICO pattern requirement
  2. Civil RICO claim
  3. Embezzlement
  4. RICO predicate-offense requirement
  5. Larceny
  6. Enterprise conduct nexus

Explanation

Correct Answer

F:

Certain RICO provisions require participation in the operation or management of the enterprise's affairs through the prohibited pattern.

Incorrect Answers

A:

RICO requires a legally qualifying pattern of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise and other elements; two isolated wrongs are not automatically enough; enterprise conduct nexus is the issue raised by the described conduct.

B:

A private plaintiff meeting the statute's standing, causation and injury requirements may seek specified civil remedies, including treble damages; the inquiry instead concerns Enterprise conduct nexus, with its own elements.

C:

Embezzlement concerns fraudulent conversion of property lawfully entrusted to the accused, rather than an initial trespassory taking; the relevant step in this scenario is Enterprise conduct nexus.

D:

Racketeering allegations need statutorily enumerated predicate crimes and other elements; a generic workplace violation cannot substitute for them; here the operative distinction is Enterprise conduct nexus.

E:

Traditional larceny involves wrongful taking and carrying away of another's property with the requisite intent, subject to modern statutory variations; those prerequisites should not be confused with Enterprise conduct nexus.

Question 155

A private racketeering lawsuit concerns both an available remedy and a statutory limit. (1) A business alleges direct property losses caused by a qualifying, ongoing pattern of specified racketeering acts; which civil enforcement path might be available if all elements are proved? (2) The complaint also cites a single unrelated misdemeanor by an employee as if any offense automatically established RICO; which predicate-acts requirement defeats that assumption? Choose TWO.

  1. Enterprise conduct nexus
  2. Civil RICO claim
  3. RICO predicate-offense requirement
  4. RICO pattern requirement

Explanation

Correct Answers

B:

A private plaintiff meeting the statute's standing, causation and injury requirements may seek specified civil remedies, including treble damages; it specifically answers numbered situation 1.

C:

Racketeering allegations need statutorily enumerated predicate crimes and other elements; a generic workplace violation cannot substitute for them; it specifically answers numbered situation 2.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Certain RICO provisions require participation in the operation or management of the enterprise's affairs through the prohibited pattern; the separate questions call for civil rico claim and rico predicate-offense requirement, while no prompt asks for this additional rule.

D:

RICO requires a legally qualifying pattern of racketeering activity connected to an enterprise and other elements; two isolated wrongs are not automatically enough; the separate questions call for civil rico claim and rico predicate-offense requirement, while no prompt asks for this additional rule.

Question 156

A company pleads civil RICO based on misleading statements but alleges only that its reputation suffered, without a concrete injury to business or property caused by racketeering. Which threshold threatens the private claim?

  1. Existence of a racketeering pattern instead of a qualifying economic injury
  2. Civil RICO business-or-property injury and causation requirement
  3. Proof of a RICO enterprise without showing plaintiff injury
  4. Proof of a prior criminal conviction as a condition for every civil RICO suit

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

A private civil RICO plaintiff generally must show injury to business or property by reason of a qualifying statutory violation; bare reputational allegations may be insufficient.

Incorrect Answers

A:

A pattern of specified acts is an independent RICO element; it does not substitute for a private plaintiff's injury to business or property caused by the violation.

C:

Showing an enterprise and involvement in racketeering addresses other statutory prerequisites but cannot replace the private action's distinct economic-injury and causation requirements.

D:

A civil RICO plaintiff may prove predicate acts in the civil action without an earlier criminal verdict; the asserted reputational harm still must satisfy business-or-property injury requirements.

Question 157

A cashier entrusted with company funds converts them to personal use. Which crime may be at issue?

  1. Embezzlement
  2. Larceny
  3. False pretenses
  4. Conversion

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Embezzlement concerns fraudulent conversion of property lawfully entrusted to the accused, rather than an initial trespassory taking.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Traditional larceny involves wrongful taking and carrying away of another's property with the requisite intent, subject to modern statutory variations; here the operative distinction is Embezzlement.

C:

Theft by false pretenses traditionally involves obtaining title through intentional factual deception, unlike mere unauthorized taking; those prerequisites should not be confused with Embezzlement.

D:

Civil conversion addresses an unauthorized exercise of dominion over another's personal property inconsistent with the owner's rights; embezzlement addresses the distinct legal requirement stated in the facts.

Question 158

A person takes equipment from a warehouse without the owner's consent and intends to deprive the owner. Which traditional crime concept fits?

  1. False pretenses
  2. Embezzlement
  3. Larceny
  4. Conversion

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Traditional larceny involves wrongful taking and carrying away of another's property with the requisite intent, subject to modern statutory variations.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Theft by false pretenses traditionally involves obtaining title through intentional factual deception, unlike mere unauthorized taking; that concept must be distinguished from Larceny here.

B:

Embezzlement concerns fraudulent conversion of property lawfully entrusted to the accused, rather than an initial trespassory taking; the circumstances point to Larceny rather than that separate test.

D:

Civil conversion addresses an unauthorized exercise of dominion over another's personal property inconsistent with the owner's rights; larceny is the issue raised by the described conduct.

Question 159

A person obtains goods by deceiving the owner into voluntarily transferring ownership. Which fraud-theft category may apply?

  1. Embezzlement
  2. Conversion
  3. False pretenses
  4. Larceny

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Theft by false pretenses traditionally involves obtaining title through intentional factual deception, unlike mere unauthorized taking.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Embezzlement concerns fraudulent conversion of property lawfully entrusted to the accused, rather than an initial trespassory taking; the relevant step in this scenario is False pretenses.

B:

Civil conversion addresses an unauthorized exercise of dominion over another's personal property inconsistent with the owner's rights; here the operative distinction is False pretenses.

D:

Traditional larceny involves wrongful taking and carrying away of another's property with the requisite intent, subject to modern statutory variations; those prerequisites should not be confused with False pretenses.

Question 160

An employee lawfully possesses a laptop but later intentionally keeps it contrary to the owner's rights. Which wrong may be considered?

  1. Conversion
  2. Embezzlement
  3. Larceny
  4. False pretenses

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Civil conversion addresses an unauthorized exercise of dominion over another's personal property inconsistent with the owner's rights.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Embezzlement concerns fraudulent conversion of property lawfully entrusted to the accused, rather than an initial trespassory taking; conversion raises a different threshold from this alternative.

C:

Traditional larceny involves wrongful taking and carrying away of another's property with the requisite intent, subject to modern statutory variations; that concept must be distinguished from Conversion here.

D:

Theft by false pretenses traditionally involves obtaining title through intentional factual deception, unlike mere unauthorized taking; the circumstances point to Conversion rather than that separate test.

Certified Fraud Examiner - Law (CFE - Law) Practice Tests