Federal · Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal Procedure

18 U.S.C. § 648: Custodians, generally, misusing public funds

Felony

What this law says, in plain English

Federal law criminalizes public officials or custodians who misappropriate public funds through loans, personal use, deposits, or exchanges. Penalties include fines and imprisonment up to ten years, or up to one year if the amount is $1,000 or less.

Read the full statutory text

Whoever, being an officer or other person charged by any Act of Congress with the safe-keeping of the public moneys, loans, uses, or converts to his own use, or deposits in any bank, including any branch or agency of a foreign bank (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 1(b) of the International Banking Act of 1978), or exchanges for other funds, except as specially allowed by law, any portion of the public moneys intrusted to him for safe-keeping, is guilty of embezzlement of the money so loaned, used, converted, deposited, or exchanged, and shall be fined under this title or in a sum equal to the amount of money so embezzled, whichever is greater, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; but if the amount embezzled does not exceed $1,000, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

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