[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5214 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.5214

                     One Hundred Sixteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twenty


                                 An Act


 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prevent fraud by representative 
                                 payees.

    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 ``Representative Payee Fraud 
Prevention Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE FRAUD.
    (a) Definitions.--
        (1) CSRS.--Section 8331 of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended--
            (A) in paragraph (31), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (B) in paragraph (32), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(33) `representative payee' means a person (including an 
    organization) designated under section 8345(e)(1) to receive 
    payments on behalf of a minor or an individual mentally incompetent 
    or under other legal disability.''.
        (2) FERS.--Section 8401 of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended--
            (A) in paragraph (37), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (B) in paragraph (38), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(39) `representative payee' means a person (including an 
    organization) designated under section 8466(c)(1) to receive 
    payments on behalf of a minor or an individual mentally incompetent 
    or under other legal disability.''.
    (b) Embezzlement or Conversion.--
        (1) CSRS.--Subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United 
    States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8345 the 
    following:
``Sec. 8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments
    ``(a) Embezzling and Conversion Generally.--
        ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for a representative 
    payee to embezzle or in any manner convert all or any part of the 
    amounts received from payments received as a representative payee 
    to a use other than for the use and benefit of the minor or 
    individual on whose behalf such payments were received.
        ``(2) Revocation.--If the Office determines that a 
    representative payee has embezzled or converted payments as 
    described in paragraph (1), the Office shall promptly--
            ``(A) revoke the certification for payment of benefits to 
        the representative payee; and
            ``(B) certify payment--
                ``(i) to another representative payee; or
                ``(ii) if the interest of the individual under this 
            title would be served thereby, to the individual.
    ``(b) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (a)(1) shall be 
fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.''.
        (2) FERS.--Subchapter VI of chapter 84 of title 5, United 
    States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8466 the 
    following:
``Sec. 8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments
    ``(a) Embezzling and Conversion Generally.--
        ``(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for a representative 
    payee to embezzle or in any manner convert all or any part of the 
    amounts received from payments received as a representative payee 
    to a use other than for the use and benefit of the minor or 
    individual on whose behalf such payments were received.
        ``(2) Revocation.--If the Office determines that a 
    representative payee has embezzled or converted payments as 
    described in paragraph (1), the Office shall promptly--
            ``(A) revoke the certification for payment of benefits to 
        the representative payee; and
            ``(B) certify payment--
                ``(i) to another representative payee; or
                ``(ii) if the interest of the individual under this 
            title would be served thereby, to the individual.
    ``(b) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (a)(1) shall be 
fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.''.
        (3) Technical and conforming amendments.--
            (A) The table of sections for chapter 83 of title 5, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
        section 8345 the following:

``8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.''.

            (B) The table of sections for chapter 84 of title 5, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
        section 8466 the following:

``8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.''.

    (c) Deferral of Payment Pending Appointment of Representative 
Payee.--
        (1) CSRS.--Section 8345(e) of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended--
            (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(e)'';
            (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ``(including an 
        organization)'' after ``person'';
            (C) in the second sentence--
                (i) by inserting ``(including an organization)'' after 
            ``any person''; and
                (ii) by inserting ``and may appropriately receive such 
            payments on behalf of the claimant'' after ``claimant'' the 
            second place it appears; and
            (D) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) If the Office determines that direct payment of a benefit to 
an individual mentally incompetent or under other legal disability 
would cause substantial harm to the individual, the Office may defer or 
suspend direct payment of the benefit until such time as the 
appointment of a representative payee is made. The Office shall resume 
payment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.''.
        (2) FERS.--Section 8466(c) of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended--
            (A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)'';
            (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ``(including an 
        organization)'' after ``person'';
            (C) in the second sentence--
                (i) by inserting ``(including an organization)'' after 
            ``any person''; and
                (ii) by inserting ``and may appropriately receive such 
            payments on behalf of the claimant'' after ``claimant'' the 
            second place it appears; and
            (D) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) If the Office determines that direct payment of a benefit to 
an individual mentally incompetent or under other legal disability 
would cause substantial harm to the individual, the Office may defer or 
suspend direct payment of the benefit until such time as the 
appointment of a representative payee is made. The Office shall resume 
payment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.''.
    (d) Limitations on Appointments of Representative Payees.--
        (1) CSRS.--Section 8345 of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) The Office may not authorize a person to receive payments on 
behalf of a minor or individual of legal disability under subsection 
(e) if that person has been convicted of a violation of--
        ``(1) section 8345a or 8466a;
        ``(2) section 208 or 1632 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
    408, 1383a); or
        ``(3) section 6101 of title 38.''.
        (2) FERS.--Section 8466 of title 5, United States Code, is 
    amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) The Office may not authorize a person to receive payments on 
behalf of a minor or individual of legal disability under subsection 
(c) if that person has been convicted of a violation of--
        ``(1) section 8345a or 8466a;
        ``(2) section 208 or 1632 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
    408, 1383a); or
        ``(3) section 6101 of title 38.''.
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION.
    (a) Authorization of Payments.--Section 8348(a)(1)(B) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting ``in administering fraud 
prevention under sections 8345, 8345a, 8466, and 8466a of this title,'' 
after ``8465(b) of this title,''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Office of Personnel Management--
        (1) shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amendments 
    made by section 2; and
        (2) may promulgate additional regulations relating to the 
    administration of the representative payee program.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
    The amendments made by section 2--
        (1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act; 
    and
        (2) apply on and after the effective date of the regulations 
    promulgated under section 3(b)(1).

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.