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Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-102

§4217 Embezzlement of Fees or of Effects of American Citizens

Title 22 › CHAPTER 52 — FOREIGN SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER XIV — POWERS, DUTIES AND LIABILITIES OF CONSULAR OFFICERS GENERALLY › § 4217

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

It is a crime for a U.S. consular officer to willfully fail to file accurate quarterly reports about the office and money received for the United States, or to fail to turn over any balance owed at the end of a quarter before the next quarter ends. It is also a crime to keep money or property that belongs to a U.S. citizen and, after a reasonable demand by the Secretary of State, the citizen, or the citizen’s legal representative, not account for and pay it (minus any lawful fees). Conviction can bring up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4217

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Every consular officer who willfully neglects to render true and just quarterly accounts and returns of the business of his office, and of moneys received by him for the use of the United States, or who neglects to pay over any balance of said moneys due to the United States at the expiration of any quarter, before the expiration of the next succeeding quarter, or who shall receive money, property, or effects belonging to a citizen of the United States and shall not within a reasonable time after demand made upon him by the Secretary of State or by such citizen, his executor, administrator, or legal representative, account for and pay over all moneys, property, and effects, less his lawful fees, due to such citizen, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years, and by a fine of not more than $2,000.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 1734 derived from act Mar. 3, 1869, ch. 125, § 5, 15 Stat. 322. Section was not enacted as part of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 which comprises this chapter. Section was formerly classified to section 1198 of this title, and prior thereto to section 102 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4217

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102