California · Penal Code

PEN §560.6: (1) A corporation, firm, or person, and its or his agents or employees shall not issue, sell, pledge, assign, or transfer in this State any receipt, certificate, or other written instrument purporting

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

Persons or corporations cannot issue or transfer fraudulent warehouse receipts for goods supposedly stored in out-of-state warehouses. Knowing violations constitute misdemeanor offenses.

Read the full statutory text
(1) A corporation, firm, or person, and its or his agents or employees shall not issue, sell, pledge, assign, or transfer in this State any receipt, certificate, or other written instrument purporting to be a warehouse receipt, or in the similitude of a warehouse receipt, or designed to be understood as a warehouse receipt, for goods, wares, or merchandise stored or deposited, or claimed to be stored or deposited, in any warehouse, public or private, in any other state, unless such receipt, certificate, or other written instrument has been issued by the warehouseman operating such warehouse. (2) A corporation, firm, or person, and its or his agents or employees shall not issue, sell, pledge, assign, or transfer in this State any receipt, certificate, or other written instrument for goods, wares, or merchandise claimed to be stored or deposited, in any warehouse, public or private, in any other state, knowing that there is no such warehouse located at the place named in such receipt, certificate, or other written instrument, or if there is a warehouse at such place knowing that there are no goods, wares, or merchandise stored or deposited therein as specified in such receipt, certificate, or other written instrument. (3) A corporation, firm, or person, and its or his agents or employees shall not issue, sign, sell, pledge, assign, or transfer in this State any receipt, certificate, or other written instrument evidencing, or purporting to evidence, the creation of a security interest in, or sale, or bailment, of any goods, wares, or merchandise stored or deposited, or claimed to be stored or deposited, in any warehouse, public or private, in any other state, unless such receipt, certificate, or other written instrument plainly designates the number and location of such warehouse and contains a full, true, and complete copy of the receipt issued by the warehouseman operating the warehouse in which such goods, wares, or merchandise is stored or deposited, or is claimed to be stored or deposited. This section shall not apply to the issue, signing, sale, pledge, assignment, or transfer of bona fide warehouse receipts issued by the warehouseman operating public or bonded warehouses in other states according to the laws of the state in which such warehouses are located. (4) Every corporation, firm, person, agent, or employee, who knowingly violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), and may in addition be imprisoned in the county jail for not exceeding six months.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.