[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4070 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4070

  To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for criminal and 
    civil penalties for mail and wire fraud, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 1994

 Miss Collins of Michigan (by request) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred jointly to the Committees on the Judiciary and Post 
                        Office and Civil Service

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for criminal and 
    civil penalties for mail and wire fraud, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CRIMINAL AND CIVIL FORFEITURE FOR MAIL AND WIRE FRAUD.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 63 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sections:
``Sec. 1347. Criminal forfeiture for violation of section 1341 or 1343
    ``(a) In General.--A person convicted of a violation of sections 
1341 or 1343 of this title shall, notwithstanding any provision of 
State law, forfeit to the United States any property constituting or 
derived from any proceeds which the person obtained directly or 
indirectly from a scheme in violation of either section.
    ``(b) Procedures of Controlled Substances Act Applicable.--With 
respect to a forfeiture under this section for a violation of this 
chapter, the provisions of subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (i), 
(k), (l), (m), (n), and (o) of section 413 of the Controlled Substances 
Act apply as they would to a forfeiture under that section for a 
violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
    ``(c) Disposition of Property.--After a seizure of property ordered 
forfeited under this section, the Attorney General shall dispose of the 
property under section 1349 of this title. The Postal Service shall 
turn any such seized property over to the Attorney General for disposal 
under such section.
    ``(d) Substitute Assets.--If any of the property subject to 
forfeiture under this section, as a result of conduct of the 
defendant--
            ``(1) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;
            ``(2) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a 
        third party;
            ``(3) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court;
            ``(4) has been substantially diminished in value; or
            ``(5) has been commingled with other property which cannot 
        be divided without difficulty;
the court shall order the forfeiture of any other property of the 
defendant up to the value of any property described in paragraphs (1) 
through (5) of this subsection.
``Sec. 1348. Civil forfeiture for violation of section 1341 or 1343
    ``(a) Property Subject to Civil Forfeiture.--Any property, as 
defined by subsection (b) of section 413 of the Controlled Substances 
Act, constituting or derived from any proceeds of a scheme in violation 
of sections 1341 or 1343 of this title shall be subject to forfeiture 
to the United States.
    ``(b) Seizure.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (4), any 
property subject to forfeiture to the United States under this section 
may be seized by the Attorney General or the Postal Service upon 
process issued pursuant to the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty 
and Maritime Claims by a district court of the United States having 
jurisdiction over the property.
    ``(2) The Attorney General or the Postal Service may seize such 
property without such process when--
            ``(A) the seizure is incident to a lawful arrest or search; 
        or
            ``(B) such property has been the subject of a prior 
        judgment in favor of the United States in a criminal injunction 
        or forfeiture proceeding under section 1347 of this title.
    ``(3) The Government may seek the issuance of a warrant authorizing 
the seizure of property subject to forfeiture under this section in the 
same manner as provided for a search warrant under the Federal Rules of 
Criminal Procedure.
    ``(4) No property shall be forfeited under this section to the 
extent of the interest of an owner or lienholder by reason of any act 
or omission established by that owner or lienholder to have been 
committed without the knowledge of that owner or lienholder.
    ``(c) Procedural Matters.--(1) With respect to a forfeiture of 
property under this section, the provisions of subsections (c), (d), 
(h), and (j) of section 511 of the Controlled Substances Act apply as 
they would to a forfeiture of property under that section, and the 
Postal Service may also perform any of the functions the Attorney 
General may perform under such subsections.
    ``(2) The filing of an indictment or information alleging a 
violation of section 1341 or 1343 of this title which is also related 
to a civil forfeiture proceeding under either section shall, upon 
motion of the United States and for good cause shown, stay the civil 
forfeiture proceeding.
    ``(d) Disposition of Property.--After a seizure of property ordered 
forfeited under this section, the Attorney General or the Postal 
Service shall dispose of the property under section 1349 of this title.
``Sec. 1349. Disposition of forfeited property
    ``(a) In General.--After making due provision for the rights of any 
innocent persons, the Attorney General, after deducting the costs 
incurred by the United States in conducting the seizure, forfeiture, 
and identification of victims, shall deposit the property forfeited or 
the proceeds from the sale of property forfeited under sections 1347 or 
1348 of this title in the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund 
established by section 524(c) of title 28. The Postal Service may 
exercise the authority of the Attorney General in conducting 
administrative forfeitures and shall deposit the property forfeited or 
the proceeds of the property forfeited in the Postal Service Fund under 
section 2003(b)(7) of title 39. Any property right or interest not 
exercisable by, or transferable for value to, the United States shall 
expire and shall not revert to the defendant. Neither the defendant nor 
any person acting in concert with the defendant or on the defendant's 
behalf is eligible to purchase forfeited property sold by the United 
States.
    ``(b) Restraint Pending Appeal.--Upon application of a person other 
than the defendant or a person acting in concert with the defendant or 
on the defendant's behalf, the court may restrain or stay the sale or 
disposition of the property pending the conclusion of any appeal in the 
case giving rise to the forfeiture, if the applicant demonstrates that 
proceeding with the sale or disposition will result in irreparable harm 
to the applicant.
    ``(c) Rules for Disposition.--The Attorney General and the Postal 
Service shall make rules providing for the disposition of such property 
and proceeds. The rules shall provide that the Attorney General or the 
Postal Service may--
            ``(1) retain the property for official use;
            ``(2) transfer the property to Federal, State, or local law 
        enforcement agencies so as to reflect generally the 
        contribution of such agencies to the seizure or forfeiture of 
        such property;
            ``(3) sell any forfeited property which is not required to 
        be destroyed by law and which is not harmful to the public;
            ``(4) require that the General Services Administration take 
        custody of the property and dispose of it in accordance with 
        law;
            ``(5) restore forfeited property to victims of an offense 
        described in subsection (a);
            ``(6) destroy the property if it is harmful to the public 
        or the expense of sale would exceed the amount realized from 
        the sale; or
            ``(7) dispose of such funds or property as otherwise 
        provided by law.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 63 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new items:

``1347. Criminal forfeiture for violation of section 1341 or 1343.
``1348. Civil forfeiture for violation of section 1341 or 1343.
``1349. Disposition of forfeited property.''.

SEC. 2. POSTAL SERVICE FUND AMENDMENT.

    Section 2003(b)(7) of title 39, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(7) amounts (including proceeds from the sale of 
        forfeited items) from any forfeiture conducted by the Postal 
        Service and from any forfeiture resulting from an investigation 
        conducted by the Postal Service, except that nothing in this 
        paragraph shall preclude the Postal Service from sharing such 
        amounts with any Federal or State agency whose efforts in 
        investigating or litigating the forfeiture contributed to the 
        receipt of such funds.''.

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