(xviii) 18 U.S.C. 1421. This law makes it a crime for any court officer authorized to receive money in proceedings relating to citizenship, naturalization, or registration of aliens, to "wilfully neglect" to account for or pay over any balance of such moneys to the United States within thirty days after coming due. The penalty is imprisonment for not more than five years.

(xix) 18 U.S.C. 1711. This enactment prohibits the misappropriation of postal funds by an officer or employee of the Postal Service, either by an appropriation of money or property which comes into his hands (whether or not it belongs to the United States), or by failing to make required deposits of government funds in a designated depository. An offender is liable to imprisonment for not more than ten years, unless the value of the property embezzled is less than $100, in which case the offense is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year.

C. Statutes covering obtaining property from the United States by fraudulent methods

Included here are a series of laws covering obtaining property by false statements, a series of laws covering obtaining property by impersonation, and a group of statutes covering other divergent fraudulent activities engaged in for the purpose of obtaining property.

(i) False Statements.

18 U.S.C. 286. This law forbids conspiracies to defraud the United States by "obtaining or aiding to obtain the payment or allowance of any false, fictitious or fraululent claim." The maximum punishment is imprisonment for ten years.

18 U.S.C. 287. This enactment punishes by up to five years' imprisonment anyone who knowingly presents a false claim to an officer of the United States for payment.

18 U.S.C. 288. This statute makes it a crime knowingly to present any false claim for postal losses for payment; to support any postal claim with false statements, certificates, or affidavits; or to conceal any material fact in respect to such a claim. The penalty is a fine not to exceed $500 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, but if the amount of the false claim is less than $100, only the fine may be imposed.

18 U.S.C. 289. This law makes it a crime knowingly and willfully to submit any false statement or writing concerning a claim for a pension within the jurisdiction of the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs. It is also a crime for a person to certify falsely that the writing was sworn to and witnessed before him. Violation carries a penalty of imprisonment of not more than five years.

18 U.S.C. 550. This statute makes it a crime, punishable by a prison term of up to two years, to file a false or fraudulent entry or claim for the payment of a refund of duties on the exportation of merchandise.

18 U.S.C. 1002. This enactment makes it a felony to possess, with intent to defraud the United States, any false document for the purpose of enabling another to obtain money from the United States. The penalty is up to five years' imprisonment.

18 U.S.Č. 1003. This law makes it a crime for a person knowingly and fraudulently to make a demand for any public stocks of the United States, or to have any pension, wage, or other debt paid by virtue of a false instrument. An offender is liable to imprison

ment for not more than five years unless the sum or value obtained is less than $100, in which event the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year.

18 U.S.C. 1006. This statute prohibits anyone connected with certain enumerated Federal credit institutions from making false statements, with intent to defraud the United States. It also makes criminal the receiving of property from such institution with intent to defraud the United States. The penalty is imprisonment for up to five years.

18 U.S.C. 1007. This enactment makes it a crime for anyone either knowingly to make a false statement to secure payment of a claim by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or willfully to overvalue a security so insured. An offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than two years.

18 U.S.C. 1012. This law punishes whoever, inter alia, with intent to defraud the Department of Housing and Urban Development, receives any compensation or reward. The penalty is imprisonment for not more than one year.

18 U.S.C. 1712. This statute makes it a crime for an officer or employee of the Postal Service to make false returns to an officer of the United States for the purpose of increasing his compensation. It is also a crime for an officer or employee of the Postal Service to induce others to deposit mail at the office where he is employed for the purpose of increasing his compensation. Violations are punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years.

18 U.S.C. 1722. This law punishes by a fine of up to $500 whoever submits false evidence to the Postal Service in an effort to secure second-class mail rates.

18 U.S.C. 1919. This enactment punishes whoever makes a false statement to obtain unemployment compensation for Federal Service under chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code. A violation is subject to imprisonment for not more than one year.

18 U.S.C. 1920. This law proscribes the making of a false statement for the purpose of obtaining Federal employees' compensation for partial disability, authorized by 5 U.S.C. 8106. An offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than one year.

18 U.S.C. 2073. This statute makes it a crime for officers, clerks, agents, and employees of the United States to make a false entry in any record relating to their duties, with intent to defraud. It is also a crime for any person who is charged with the duty of receiving, holding, or paying moneys or securities for the United States to make false reports. Both acts are punishable by imprisonment not to exceed ten years.

(ii) Impersonation

18 U.S.C. 912. This statute makes it a crime, inter alia, for a person pretending to be an officer or employee of the United States to demand or obtain anything of value. The punishment is up to three years' imprisonment.

18 U.S.C. 915. This law provides that whoever falsely personates an official of a foreign government, with intent to defraud the United States by obtaining any thing of value, shall be liable to imprisonment for not more than ten years.3

3 See the discussion of 18 U.S.C. 912 and 915 in connection with section 1303 (Impersonating an Official).

18 U.S.C. 663. This enactment punishes by up to five years in prison anyone who solicits money or property for the use of the United States, and converts such gifts to another purpose.

(iii) Other Frauds

18 U.S.C. 1719. This provision makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $300 for anyone to make use of a franking privilege for private purposes.

18 U.S.C. 1720. This law makes it a crime for anyone to use a canceled postage stamp as payment of postage, or to remove the canceling marks from a postage stamp. A violator is subject to imprisonment for not more than one year. However, if the offender is employed by the Postal Service, he may be imprisoned for not more than three years.

18 U.S.Č. 1723. This statute makes it a crime for anyone to enclose higher class mail in lower class matter in order to obtain lower postal rates. The penalty is a fine of up to $100.

18 U.S.C. 1921. This enactment makes it a crime to receive Federal employees' compensation, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8107-8113 and 8133, after a marriage of the employee or a dependant, which would act to reduce or terminate compensation. An offense is punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year.

18 U.S.C. 1923. This provision penalizes by up to one year in prison whoever receives payments fraudulently for missing persons pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 5561-5568, or chapter 10 of title 37, United States Code.

D. Statutes covering misuse of official position to obtain property (i) 18 U.S.C. 912. This statute, as discussed in connection with the immediately preceding category of offenses, prohibits any person from impersonating an officer or employee of the United States to demand or obtain anything of value. The penalty is up to three years in prison.

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(ii) 18 U.S.C. 914. This law punishes whoever falsely personates a creditor of the United States, in order to transfer public stock or receive payment for a debt due. The penalty is imprisonment for not more than five years.

(iii) 18 U.S.C. 1422. This enactment makes it a crime to demand unauthorized fees or moneys in proceedings related to citizenship, naturalization, or registration of aliens. A violation is punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year.

(iv) 18 U.S.C. 1901. This provision makes it illegal for any officer of the United States charged with the collection or disbursement of revenues to carry on a business in the funds or property of the United States. An offender may be imprisoned for not more than one year and shall forfeit his office and be barred from holding a future office.

(v) 18 U.S.C. 1916. This law provides that an Executive department employee may be employed only for services actually rendered for the purposes of the appropriation from which he is paid. A violation is punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year.

(vi) 22 U.S.C. 1179. This statute states that a consular officer who accepts an appointment to an office of trust, following the death of an American citizen in a foreign country, and who fails to account prop

But see United States v. Grewe, 242 F. Supp. 826 (W.D. Mo. 1965); United States v. York, 202 F. Supp. 275 (E.D. Va. 1962).

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erly for any property received in that capacity, is guilty of embezzlement, and is subject to a penalty of up to five years' imprisonment.

(vii) 22 U.S.C. 1198. This enactment makes it a crime for a consular officer who has received custody of the property of a United States citizen to fail to account properly for and return such property. The penalty is a prison term not to exceed five years.

(viii) 26 U.S.C. 7214. This statute makes it a crime, inter alia, for an officer or employee of the United States, acting in connection with any revenue law of the United States, to conspire to defraud the United States. The punishment consists of imprisonment for a term of up to five years, as well as dismissal from office or employment.

E. Statutes covering thefts affecting interstate commerce

(i) 18 U.S.C. 659. This law makes it a crime, inter alia, for anyone. to steal any goods, baggage, express, or freight which constitutes a shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, or to steal from or defraud a passenger who is on a carriage moving in interstate commerce. The section also penalizes the receipt of any property so obtained. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for not more than ten years, unless the value of the property is less than $100, in which case the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year.

(ii) 18 U.S.C. 660. This provision prohibits an officer or manager of a common carrier, or an employee riding on a carrier moving in interstate commerce, from taking any of the moneys, securities, or property of such firm which are derived from or used in commerce. An offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than ten years.

(iii) 18 U.S.C. 2312. This statute, the so-called Dyer Act, makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, to transport in interstate or foreign commerce a motor vehicle or aircraft known to have been stolen.5

(iv) 18 U.S.C. 2314. This enactment makes it a crime to transport in interstate or foreign commerce any goods, security, or money having a value of $5,000 or more, which was obtained by theft or fraud. The section also makes it a crime to utilize interstate or foreign commerce in any manner to effectuate a scheme to defraud. A violation is punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten years.

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(v) 7 U.S.C. 13(a). This section, a part of the Commodity Exchange Act, makes it an offense punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to five years for any futures commission merchant, or his agent or employee, to steal any money, securities, or property having a value in excess of $100, which has been received to secure the trades or contracts of any customer, or accruing there from.

(vi) 7 U.S.C. 270. This statute, part of the United States Warehouse Act, makes it a crime for a person to convert to his own use agricultural products stored in a licensed warehouse. The penalty is a prison term of up to ten years.

(vii)_15 U.S.C. 78jjj (c). This provision, part of the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, makes it a crime punishable by imprisonment for up to five years for any one to steal, convert or embezzle any of the assets of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

5 The word "stolen" has been given an expansive interpretation embracing all types of felonious takings (not merely common law larceny) involving an intent to deprive the owner of rights and benefits. See United States v. Turley, 352 U.S. 407 (1957).

This aspect of the statute is carried forward in section 1734.

(viii) 15 U.S.C. 80a-36. This law, part of the Investment Company Act of 1940, provides that anyone who steals or embezzles any money, securities, or assets of a registered investment company shall be subject to the penalties contained in 15 U.S.C. 80a-48, i.e., imprisonment for up to two years.

F. Statutes covering theft within the special jurisdiction of the United States

(i) 18 U.S.C. 661. This statute makes any theft of property within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States a crime. If the value of the property exceeds $100, the offense is punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years; in all other cases, by imprisonment for not more than one year.

(ii) 18 U.S.C. 1025. This law makes it a crime for anyone to obtain anything of value from a person by means of fraud or false pretenses, upon any waters within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. An offender is subject to imprisonment for five years, unless the value of the property does not exceed $100, in which event the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.

(iii) 18 U.S.C. 2271. This enactment makes it a crime to conspire to destroy any vessel on the high seas or within the United States in order to collect insurance proceeds on the vessel or on goods on board. An offender may be imprisoned for not more than ten years.

(iv) 18 U.S.C. 2272. This statute imposes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for an owner of a vessel who causes its destruction with the purpose of collecting insurance proceeds upon the high seas or within the special maritime jurisdiction of the United States.

G. Statutes covering theft and embezzlement from named financial institutions

Five statutes cover, with some overlap, theft and embezzlement from financial institutions.

(i) 18 U.S.C. 655. This provision makes it a crime for a bank examiner to take or conceal unlawfully any property of value in the possession of a bank which is a member of the Federal Reserve System or is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This section does not apply to private examiners employed by a clearinghouse association or bank. A violator is subject to imprisonment for not more than five years, unless the amount taken is less than $100, in which case the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of not more than one year. In either case, the offender is disqualified from serving again as a bank examiner.

(ii) 18 U.S.C. 656. This statute makes it a crime for any officer or employee of the Federal Reserve Bank, a member bank, a national bank, or an insured bank, to steal, embezzle, or misapply bank funds. An offender may be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years, unless the value of the property taken is less than $100, in which event the offense is punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year.

(iii) 18 U.S.C. 1006. This law provides, inter alia, that anyone connected with various credit institutions acting under the authority of the United States who, with intent to defraud such institution.