NCJ Number
214582
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2006 Pages: 527-574
Date Published
2006
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the development and application of three Federal criminal statutes that create and punish offenses by or against financial institutions.
Abstract
It first outlines the purpose and scope, offense elements, possible defenses, penalties, and supplemental enforcement mechanisms for the Federal Bank Fraud Statute (Title 18, Section 1344 of the U.S. Code). The purpose of the Bank Fraud Statute is to protect the interests of the Federal Government as an insurer of financial institutions. It covers a variety of offenses against financial institutions, including check-kiting, check forging, false statements, nondisclosures on loan applications, and stolen checks. The following defenses have been used to counter prosecutions under the Bank Fraud Statute: the financial institution did not have "custody or control" of the assets in question; the defendant was acting in good faith; and/or the indictment charged a single offense in multiple counts, which creates the risk that a defendant will be punished twice for the same conduct so as to violate the guarantee against double jeopardy. One section of the article discusses the scope, elements, and penalties under Title 12, Section 1818(e), which provides for the administrative removal of institution-affiliated parties and prohibits any further participation in the affairs of the institution by those parties. Also discussed are the purpose and features of the Bank Secrecy Act, which was enacted to counter the increasing use of financial institutions to launder unreported income and obtain funds illegally. This is followed by a section on the reporting requirements of Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act. 360 footnotes