[2001.] Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001. [No. 50.] NOTING that fraud affecting Community revenue and expenditure Sch.2 in many cases is not confined to a single country and is often committed by organized criminal networks; CONVINCED that protection of the European Communities’ financial interests calls for the criminal prosecution of fraudulent conduct injuring those interests and requires, for that purpose, the adoption of a common definition; CONVINCED of the need to make such conduct punishable with effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties, without prejudice to the possibility of applying other penalties in appropriate cases, and of the need, at least in serious cases, to make such conduct punishable with deprivation of liberty which can give rise to extradition; RECOGNIZING that businesses play an important role in the areas financed by the European Communities and that those with decisionmaking powers in business should not escape criminal responsibility in appropriate circumstances; DETERMINED to combat together fraud affecting the European Communities’ financial interests by undertaking obligations concerning jurisdiction, extradition, and mutual cooperation, HAVE AGREED ON THE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS: Article 1 General provisions 1. For the purposes of this Convention, fraud affecting the European Communities’ financial interests shall consist of: (a) in respect of expenditure, any intentional act or omission relating to: — the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds from the general budget of the European Communities or budgets managed by, or on behalf of, the European Communities, — non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect, — the misapplication of such funds for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted; (b) in respect of revenue, any intentional act or omission relating to: — the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the illegal diminution of the resources of the general budget of the European Communities or budgets managed by, or on behalf of, the European Communities, 49