[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 474 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 474

    To improve the criminal law relating to fraud against consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 21, 1997

Mr. Goodlatte (for himself, Mr. McCollum, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. 
Saxton, Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Smith of 
Texas, Mr. Coble, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Boucher, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Combest, Mr. 
Gekas, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. 
 Calvert, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Barr of Georgia, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
  McHugh, Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania, Mr. Weller, Mr. Bono, Mr. Davis of 
  Virginia, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Chabot, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. 
Paxon, Mr. Wamp, Mr. Linder, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Riggs, Mr. Stearns, and Mr. 
    Buyer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To improve the criminal law relating to fraud against consumers.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act 
of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FORFEITURE OF FRAUD PROCEEDS.

    (a) Civil.--Section 981(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) Any property, real or personal, constituting, 
                derived from, or traceable to, any proceeds obtained 
                directly or indirectly to a violation of section 2326. 
                Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
                property forfeited under this subparagraph, or the 
                proceeds of such property, shall be used, to the extent 
                needed, as determined by the Attorney General, for the 
                national information hotline established under section 
                250008 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 
                Act of 1994 and other enforcement of section 2326.''.
    (b) Criminal.--Section 982(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) The Court, in sentencing an offender under section 
        2326, shall order that the offender forfeit to the United 
        States any real or personal property constituting or derived 
        from proceeds that the offender obtained directly or indirectly 
        as a result of the offense. Any property forfeited under this 
        paragraph, or the proceeds of such property, shall be used, to 
        the extent needed, as determined by the Attorney General, for 
        the national information hotline established under section 
        250008 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 
        1994 and other enforcement of section 2326.''.

SEC. 3. PRIORITY FOR MANDATORY RESTITUTION.

    Section 2327(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end ``The payment of an amount due pursuant to such 
restitution shall have priority over the payment of any fine or the 
forfeiture of any property under section 982(a)(6) from which such 
payment could be made or derived.''.

SEC. 4. SENTENCING IN CASES WITH VULNERABLE VICTIMS.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall amend the sentencing 
guidelines to increase by 2 levels the vulnerable victim adjustment.

SEC. 5. INCREASED PUNISHMENT FOR USE OF FOREIGN LOCATION TO EVADE 
              PROSECUTION.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall amend the sentencing 
guidelines to increase the offense level for any fraud offense by 2 
levels if defendant conducted activities to further the fraud from a 
foreign country in order to impede prosecution for the offense.

SEC. 6. INFORMATION ABOUT VICTIMS OF CERTAIN CRIMES.

    Any presentence report required under the Federal Rules of Criminal 
Procedure shall include information about the age of each victim of 
each fraud offense for which a defendant is convicted.
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