§1352 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

Makes it a crime for a foreign official to corruptly demand, seek, get, accept, or agree to take anything of value by using U.S. mail or other interstate commerce. A foreign official can be a government employee or senior political leader, an official of a public international organization, or anyone acting for them. A public international organization is one the President has named under the International Organizations Immunities Act or by Executive order. The crime covers taking bribes from people or businesses connected to the United States, including U.S. companies, their officers or agents, and certain securities issuers. The payment must be in exchange for using official power to influence acts or decisions, to cause the official to break a duty, to give an improper advantage, or to use influence with a foreign government to affect its decisions. Violators face a fine up to $250,000 or three times the value of the thing taken, up to 15 years in prison, or both. The law applies even to acts outside the United States. The Attorney General must report to Congress and post online within one year and every year after about foreign-official bribery demands on U.S. entities, diplomatic protection efforts, enforcement actions, DOJ effectiveness, and needed resources or laws. This law does not replace or expand the related securities or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act rules.

Title 18, §1352

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section:

(1)The term “foreign official” means—

(A)(i)any official or employee of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof; or

(ii)any senior foreign political figure, as defined in section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation;

(B)any official or employee of a public international organization;

(C)any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of—

(i)a government, department, agency, or instrumentality described in subparagraph (A)(i); or

(ii)a public international organization.

(2)The term “public international organization” means—

(A)an organization that is designated by Executive order pursuant to section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288); or

(B)any other international organization that is designated by the President by Executive order for the purposes of this section, effective as of the date of publication of the order in the Federal Register.

(b)(1)It shall be unlawful for any foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official to corruptly demand, seek, receive, accept, or agree to receive or accept, directly or indirectly, anything of value personally or for any other person or nongovernmental entity, by making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce—

(A)from—

(i)any person (as defined in section 104A of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd–3), except that that definition shall be applied without regard to whether the person is an offender) while the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official, or a person acting on behalf of the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official, is in the territory of the United States;

(ii)an issuer (as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))), or any officer, director, employee, or agent of an issuer or any stockholder thereof acting on behalf of the issuer; or

(iii)a domestic concern (as defined in section 104 of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd–2)), or any officer, director, employee, or agent of a domestic concern or any stockholder thereof acting on behalf of the domestic concern; and

(B)in return for—

(i)being influenced in the performance of any act or decision of the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official in the official capacity of the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official;

(ii)being induced to do or omit to do any act in violation of the lawful duty of the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official;

(iii)conferring any improper advantage; or

(iv)using the influence of the foreign official or person selected to be a foreign official with a foreign government or instrumentality thereof to affect or influence any act or decision of that government or instrumentality,

(2)Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall be fined not more than $250,000 or 3 times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, imprisoned for not more than 15 years, or both.

(3)An offense under paragraph (1) shall be subject to extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction.

(4)Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State as relevant, shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and post on the publicly available website of the Department of Justice, a report—

(A)focusing, in part, on demands by foreign officials for bribes from entities domiciled or incorporated in the United States, and the efforts of foreign governments to prosecute such cases;

(B)addressing United States diplomatic efforts to protect entities domiciled or incorporated in the United States from foreign bribery, and the effectiveness of those efforts in protecting such entities;

(C)summarizing major actions taken under this section in the previous year, including enforcement actions taken and penalties imposed;

(D)evaluating the effectiveness of the Department of Justice in enforcing this section; and

(E)detailing what resources or legislative action the Department of Justice needs to ensure adequate enforcement of this section.

(5)This subsection shall not be construed as encompassing conduct that would violate section 30A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78dd–1) or section 104 or 104A of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (15 U.S.C. 78dd–2; 15 U.S.C. 78dd–3) whether pursuant to a theory of direct liability, conspiracy, complicity, or otherwise.

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (b)(4), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 118–78, which was approved July 30, 2024.

§1352 Demands by Foreign Officials for Bribes

Summary

Title 18, §1352

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

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