Fence (criminal)

In Charles Dickens' 19th-century story Oliver Twist, Fagin (far left) is a fence who recruits homeless boys and trains them as pickpockets.

A fence, also known as a receiver, mover, or moving man, is an individual who knowingly buys stolen goods in order to later resell them for profit. The fence acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may not be aware that the goods are stolen.

As a verb (e.g. "to fence stolen goods"), the word describes the behaviour of the thief in the transaction with the fence.

As is the case with the word fence and its derivatives when used in its other common meanings (i.e. as a type of barrier or enclosure, and also as a sport), the word in this context is derived from the word defence. Among criminals, the fence originated in thieves' slang tracing from the notion of such transactions providing a "defence" against being caught.[1]

Thieves who patronise fences are willing to accept a low profit margin in order to reduce their risks by instantly "washing their hands" of illicitly gotten loot (such as black market goods) and disassociating from the criminal act that procured it. After sales, fences recoup their investment by disguising the stolen nature of the goods (via methods such as repackaging and altering/effacing serial numbers) and reselling the goods as near to the market price as possible without drawing suspicion. This process often relies on a legal business (such as a pawnshop, flea market, or street vendor) in order to "launder" the stolen goods by intermixing them with legally-obtained items of the same type.[2]

Fencing is illegal in all countries, but legally proving a violation of anti-fencing laws can be difficult.[3]

  1. ^ "Fence" in the Word Detective
    • "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  2. ^ Wilber, Del Quentin (16 August 2004). "D.C. Cracks Down as Stolen-Goods Dealers Evolve: Fencing Becomes More Sophisticated, Disciplined". Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  3. ^ Steffensmeier, Darrell J. (1995). "Fencing Stolen Property". In Bailey, William G. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Police Science. Taylor & Francis. pp. 291–296. ISBN 9780815313311.