Scienter – This legal term comes from Latin: Literally it means “knowledge”. In legal situations, the word usually refers to “guilty knowledge” of the offense of crime committed. This is a situation where for example you know items are stolen, but you agree to receive or purchase these in order to benefit yourself, but not to report to the police. Guilty knowledge is punishable in many jurisdictions as much as the crime itself, because in practice it represents the last step and the main goal of the theft – to sell the stolen items for cash.