Government seals wrongfully used and instruments wrongfully sealed
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever fraudulently or wrongfully affixes or impresses the seal of any department or agency of the United States, to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper or with knowledge of its fraudulent character, with wrongful or fraudulent intent, uses, buys, procures, sells, or transfers to another any such certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper, to which or upon which said seal has been so fraudulently affixed or impressed, shall be or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 753 (PDF, 39 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB).)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to fraudulently or wrongfully put the seal of a U.S. department or agency on a document. Knowingly using, buying, selling, or passing along such a wrongly sealed document is also illegal.