Offenses and penalties

15 U.S.C. § 50

• Title: 15 — Commerce and Trade
• Chapter: SUBCHAPTER I—FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Text

Any person who shall neglect or refuse to attend and testify, or to answer any lawful inquiry or to produce any documentary evidence, if in his power to do so, in obedience to an order of a district court of the United States directing compliance with the subpoena or lawful requirement of the Commission, shall be guilty of an offense and upon conviction thereof by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Any person who shall willfully make, or cause to be made, any false entry or statement of fact in any report required to be made under this subchapter, or who shall willfully make, or cause to be made, any false entry in any account, record, or memorandum kept by any person, partnership, or corporation subject to this subchapter, or who shall willfully neglect or fail to make, or to cause to be made, full, true, and correct entries in such accounts, records, or memoranda of all facts and transactions appertaining to the business of such person, partnership, or corporation, or who shall willfully remove out of the jurisdiction of the United States, or willfully mutilate, alter, or by any other means falsify any documentary evidence of such person, partnership, or corporation, or who shall willfully refuse to submit to the Commission or to any of its authorized agents, for the purpose of inspection and taking copies, any documentary evidence of such person, partnership, or corporation in his possession or within his control, shall be deemed guilty of an offense against the United States, and shall be subject, upon conviction in any court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, to a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
If any persons, partnership, or corporation required by this subchapter to file any annual or special report shall fail so to do within the time fixed by the Commission for filing the same, and such failure shall continue for thirty days after notice of such default, the corporation shall forfeit to the United States the sum of $100 for each and every day of the continuance of such failure, which forfeiture shall be payable into the Treasury of the United States, and shall be recoverable in a civil suit in the name of the United States brought in the case of a corporation or partnership in the district where the corporation or partnership has its principal office or in any district in which it shall do business, and in the case of any person in the district where such person resides or has his principal place of business. It shall be the duty of the various United States attorneys, under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States, to prosecute for the recovery of the forfeitures. The costs and expenses of such prosecution shall be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the courts of the United States.
Any officer or employee of the Commission who shall make public any information obtained by the Commission without its authority, unless directed by a court, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

History

(Sept. 26, 1914, ch. 311, §10, 38 Stat. 723; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, §1, 62 Stat. 909; Pub. L. 93–637, title II, §203(c), Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2199; Pub. L. 96–252, §6, May 28, 1980, 94 Stat. 376.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments
1980—First par. Pub. L. 96–252 inserted "any" after "produce" and "an order of a district court of the United States directing compliance with" after "obedience to".
1975—Second par. Pub. L. 93–637, §203(c)(1), substituted "person, partnership, or corporation" for "corporation" wherever appearing.
Third par. Pub. L. 93–637, §203(c)(2), substituted "If any persons, partnership, or corporation" for "If any corporation", and "in the case of a corporation or partnership in the district where the corporation or partnership has its principal office or in any district in which it shall do business, and in the case of any person in the district where such person resides or has his principal place of business" for "in the district where the corporation has its principal office or in any district in which it shall do business".

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name
Act June 25, 1948, eff. Sept. 1, 1948, substituted "United States attorneys" for "district attorneys". See section 541 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 96–252 effective May 28, 1980, see section 23 of Pub. L. 96–252, set out as a note under section 45 of this title.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of Federal Trade Commission, with certain exceptions, to Chairman of such Commission, see Reorg. Plan No. 8 of 1950, §1, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1264, set out under section 41 of this title.