Court of Cassation: Intangible data qualifies as stolen goods

In a decision dated 18 February 2026, published in the Official Bulletin, (Cass. Crim. 18 February 2026, no. 24-82.611), the Criminal Chamber of the Cour de cassation provided clarification regarding the material element of the offence under Article 321-1 of the French Criminal Code. This was in follow up to the decision on Cass. Crim. 7 January 2020, no. 19-80.136, published in the Official Bulletin on 07 January 2020. 

According to the highest judicial authority of the judicial order, receiving stolen goods is not limited to tangible property, and may also concern immaterial information arising from breach of trust in the instant case. This decision reflects an express intention to adapt the law to contemporary economic challenges.

The case originates from a situation of competition between companies. The former manager of one firm had used, in the context of his new business activity, internal information originating from the first company for the benefit of the second. This information had been communicated to him by an employee of his former company in violation of his professional obligations. Initially, the trial court judges had concluded that these facts constituted receiving stolen goods from a breach of trust, which the defendant contested.

Before the Cour de cassation, the defence argued that receiving stolen goods, to be established, presupposed the existence of tangible property and could not apply to mere information. This argument was flatly rejected. The highest court recalled that receiving stolen goods consists of benefiting knowingly from the proceeds of a crime, and found that, in this case, the fraudulently obtained information did indeed constitute an economic advantage arising from a breach of trust.

Prior case law was uncertain on this matter. As early as 1974, the Criminal Chamber of the Cour de cassation held that receiving stolen goods could be established by the violation of a trade secret, provided the person in question had “knowingly received fraudulently communicated information from X” (Cass. Crim. 7 November 1974, no. 72-93.034). 

However, certain later decisions excluded the classification of receiving stolen goods in matters of information “whatever its nature or origin” (Cass. Crim. 3 April 1995, no. 93-81.569), restricting receiving stolen goods to cases where the information was recorded on physical media. Indeed, the Criminal Chamber, in a decision dated 19 June 2001 (Cass. Crim. 19 June 2001, no. 99-85.188), found the existence of receiving stolen goods from violation of the secrecy of judicial proceedings committed by two journalists after noting that the disputed information revealed by the defendants was contained in “photocopies of documents from an ongoing judicial investigation”.

The 18 February 2026 decision confirms that the immaterial nature of the proceeds of the crime does not preclude the offence of receiving stolen goods from being established within the meaning of Article 321-1 of the French Criminal Code.

Nevertheless, upon review of the various decisions rendered on this matter, a limitation appears to be imposed by case law. Indeed, it appears that, for receiving stolen goods to be established (within the meaning of the provisions of Article 321-1 paragraph 2 of the French Criminal Code in the context of simple transmission of information), the holder must have made use of the disputed information. In other words, the offence presupposes that the fraudulent communication was beneficial to the person prosecuted for receiving stolen goods.

Thus, this decision establishes a broadened conception of receiving stolen goods, adapted to an information-based economy where intangible assets occupy a central place, even if the establishment of the offence appears to remain confined to cases where use has been made of the fraudulently transmitted information, so that mere possession cannot be incriminated.

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Louis-Romain Riché, a recognised expert in civil, commercial, and criminal business litigation, assists French and international companies in Switzerland, the United States, Luxembourg, and Belgium with all their issues relating to unfair competition, breach of contract, and fraud.

Laure Diu-Lambrechts is an associate, practicing in civil, commercial, and criminal business litigation.