Title 18Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73not60

§643 Accounting Generally for Public Money

Title 18 › Part I— CRIMES › Chapter 31— EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT › § 643

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Federal officers, employees, and agents who take public money they are not allowed to keep and fail to account for it commit embezzlement. Penalty: a fine (or equal to the amount taken), prison up to 10 years, or both; if $1,000 or less, fine or up to 1 year.

Full Legal Text

Title 18, §643

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Whoever, being an officer, employee or agent of the United States or of any department or agency thereof, having received public money which he is not authorized to retain as salary, pay, or emolument, fails to render his accounts for the same as provided by law is guilty of embezzlement, and shall be fined under this title or in a sum equal to the amount of the money 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.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 176 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 90, 35 Stat. 1105). Word “employee” was inserted to avoid ambiguity as to scope of section. Words “or of any department or agency thereof” were added after the words “United States”. (See definitions of the terms “department” and “agency” in section 6 of this title.) Mandatory punishment provisions phrased in alternative. The smaller punishment for an offense involving $100 or less was added. (See reviser’s notes under section 641 and 645 of this title.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1996—Pub. L. 104–294 substituted “$1,000” for “$100”. 1994—Pub. L. 103–322, § 330016(2)(G), substituted “and shall be fined under this title or in a sum equal to the amount of the money embezzled, whichever is greater, or imprisoned” for “and shall be fined in a sum equal to the amount of the money embezzled or imprisoned”. Pub. L. 103–322, § 330016(1)(H), substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000” after “he shall be”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

18 U.S.C. § 643

Title 18Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60