§50 Offenses and penalties

Summary

Makes it a crime to ignore court orders or to lie about, hide, or destroy records that the Commission requires. If a person disobeys a court order to testify, answer questions, or give documents, they can be fined between $1,000 and $5,000, jailed for up to one year, or both. If someone willfully files false statements in required reports, alters or removes records, fails to keep correct business records, or refuses to give documents to the Commission, they can be fined between $1,000 and $5,000, jailed for up to three years, or both. If a person, partnership, or corporation must file a report and does not file it by the deadline, and still has not filed 30 days after being notified, it must pay $100 for each day of the delay into the U.S. Treasury. The United States can sue to collect these payments in the district where the business has its main office or does business, or where a person lives or works. U.S. attorneys must bring those suits under the Attorney General’s direction, and the court costs come from the courts’ expense fund. Any Commission officer or employee who makes Commission information public without permission, unless a court orders it, commits a misdemeanor and can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to one year, or both.