"That is to say, knowing that it is someone else's thing and taking it away without saying anything, this kind of behavior belongs to secret theft and has the purpose of illegal possession, which has constituted theft." Regarding the boundary between "picking up" and "stealing", Zhao Sanping, director of Beijing Guangheng Law Firm, further explained.
Article 109 of China's Property Law stipulates that the lost property shall be returned to the obligee. The finder shall promptly notify the obligee to collect or deliver it to the public security and other relevant departments. Article11of China's Property Law stipulates that before the finder delivers the lost property to the relevant departments, the relevant departments shall properly keep the lost property. If the lost property is damaged or lost due to intentional or gross negligence, it shall bear civil liability.
Picking up the ownerless things, being approached and refusing to return them, the consequences are even more serious. According to the provisions of China's criminal law, illegal possession of another person, forgetting things, in a large amount and refusal to hand it over constitutes a crime of embezzlement, and he is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention or a fine; If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 2 years but not more than 5 years and fined. However, Zhao Sanping said that the crime of embezzlement is a criminal private prosecution case, and the owner needs to file a lawsuit directly with the people's court.