[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 489 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 489

    To improve the criminal law relating to fraud against consumers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 1997

Mr. Kyl (for himself and Mr. Reid) introduced the following bill; which 
     was read twice and 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)(i) Any property, real or personal, constituting, 
        derived from, or traceable to, any proceeds obtained directly 
        or indirectly to a violation of section 2326.
            ``(ii) 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--
                    ``(I) for the national information hotline 
                established under section 250008 of the Violent Crime 
                Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. 2325 
                note); and
                    ``(II) to enforce section 2326.''.
    (b) Criminal.--Section 982(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second paragraph designated as 
        paragraph (6) (as added by section 249 of the Health Insurance 
        Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) as paragraph (7); 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(8)(A) 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 of or derived from proceeds that the 
offender obtained directly or indirectly as a result of the offense.
    ``(B) Any property forfeited under this paragraph, or the proceeds 
of such property, shall be used, to the extent necessary, as determined 
by the Attorney General--
            ``(i) for the national information hotline established 
        under section 250008 of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
        Enforcement Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. 2325 note); and
            ``(ii) to enforce 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 following: ``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.
                                 <all>