§708-855  Criminal simulation.  (1)  A
person commits the offense of criminal simulation if, with intent to defraud,
the person makes, alters, or utters any object, so that it appears to have an
antiquity, rarity, source, or authorship that it does not in fact possess.



(2)  In subsection (1), "utter" means
to offer, whether accepted or not, an object with representation by acts or
words, oral or in writing, relating to its antiquity, rarity, source, or
authorship.



(3)  Criminal simulation is a misdemeanor. [L
1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1993]



 



COMMENTARY ON §708-855



 



  The special case of objects which have value not for what
they represent, but for what they are (e.g., antiques, works of art, rare
natural objects, etc.), is dealt with separately from the forgery offenses. 
Cases of falsification as it relates to such objects are treated separately
because (a) commercial and economic repercussions are not likely to extend
significantly beyond the individuals involved in the transaction, (b) there
exists no danger of undermining a substantial and necessary public confidence
in a medium of commerce, and (c), with regard to the typically unusual,
one-of-a-kind, items and transactions involved, a given individual is both more
likely and more able to protect oneself against the offender.



  Previous Hawaii law had no provisions equivalent to criminal
simulation.