18.2-115 - Fraudulent conversion or removal of property subject to lien or title to which is in another.
§ 18.2-115. Fraudulent conversion or removal of property subject to lien ortitle to which is in another.
Whenever any person is in possession of any personal property, includingmotor vehicles or farm products, in any capacity, the title or ownership ofwhich he has agreed in writing shall be or remain in another, or on which hehas given a lien, and such person so in possession shall fraudulently sell,pledge, pawn or remove such property from the premises where it has beenagreed that it shall remain, and refuse to disclose the location thereof, orotherwise dispose of the property or fraudulently remove the same from theCommonwealth, without the written consent of the owner or lienor or theperson in whom the title is, or, if such writing be a deed of trust, withoutthe written consent of the trustee or beneficiary in such deed of trust, heshall be deemed guilty of the larceny thereof.
In any prosecution hereunder, the fact that such person after demand thereforby the lienholder or person in whom the title or ownership of the propertyis, or his agent, shall fail or refuse to disclose to such claimant or hisagent the location of the property, or to surrender the same, shall be primafacie evidence of the violation of the provisions of this section. In thecase of farm products, failure to pay the proceeds of the sale of the farmproducts to the secured party, lienholder or person in whom the title orownership of the property is, or his agent, within ten days after the sale orother disposition of the farm products unless otherwise agreed by the lenderand borrower in the obligation of indebtedness, note or other evidence of thedebt shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of thissection. The venue of prosecutions against persons fraudulently removing anysuch property, including motor vehicles, from the Commonwealth shall be thecounty or city in which such property or motor vehicle was purchased or inwhich the accused last had a legal residence.
This section shall not be construed to interfere with the rights of anyinnocent third party purchasing such property, unless such writing shall bedocketed or recorded as provided by law.
(Code 1950, § 18.1-116; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1986, c. 484.)