Transportation of stolen goods, securities, moneys, fraudulent State tax stamps, or articles used in counterfeiting
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers in any goods, wares, merchandise, securities or money, of the value of $5,000 or more, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted or taken by fraud; or
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transports or causes to be transported, or induces any person or persons to travel in, or to be transported in in the execution or concealment of a scheme or artifice to defraud that person or those persons of money or property having a value of $5,000 or more; or
Whoever, with unlawful or fraudulent intent, transports in any falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited securities or tax stamps, knowing the same to have been falsely made, forged, altered, or counterfeited; or
Whoever, with unlawful or fraudulent intent, transports in any traveler's check bearing a forged countersignature; or
Whoever, with unlawful or fraudulent intent, transports in , any tool, implement, or thing used or fitted to be used in falsely making, forging, altering, or counterfeiting any security or tax stamps, or any part thereof; or
Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers in any veterans' memorial object, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted or taken by fraud—
Shall be or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. If the offense involves a pre-retail medical product (as defined in section 670) the punishment for the offense shall be the same as the punishment for an offense under section 670 unless the punishment under this section is greater. If the offense involves the transportation, transmission, or transfer in of veterans' memorial objects with a value, in the aggregate, of less than $1,000, the defendant shall be or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
This section shall not apply to any falsely made, forged, altered, counterfeited or spurious representation of an obligation or other security of the United States, or of an obligation, bond, certificate, security, treasury note, bill, promise to pay or bank note issued by any foreign government. This section also shall not apply to any falsely made, forged, altered, counterfeited, or spurious representation of any bank note or bill issued by a bank or corporation of any foreign country which is intended by the laws or usage of such country to circulate as money.
For purposes of this section the term "veterans' memorial object" means a grave marker, headstone, monument, or other object, intended to permanently honor a veteran or mark a veteran's grave, or any monument that signifies an event of national military historical significance.
History: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 806 (PDF, 39 MB); May 24, 1949, ch. 139, §45, 63 Stat. 96 (PDF, 5.2 MB); July 9, 1956, ch. 519, 70 Stat. 507; Pub. L. 87–371, §2, Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 802; Pub. L. 90–535, Sept. 28, 1968, 82 Stat. 885 (PDF, 3.3 MB); Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §§7057, 7080, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4402 (PDF, 56 MB), 4406; Pub. L. 101–647, title XII, §1208, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4832 (PDF, 27 MB); Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, §330016(1)(K), (L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147 (PDF, 52 MB); Pub. L. 112–186, §4(d)(1), Oct. 5, 2012, 126 Stat. 1429; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, §1084(a), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1963.)
Simplified explanation
It is a federal crime to move stolen or fraud-obtained goods, securities, or money worth $5,000 or more across state or national lines, knowing they were stolen. It is also a crime to bring fraud victims across state lines as part of a scheme to cheat them out of $5,000 or more, or to transport forged securities, forged tax stamps, forged traveler's checks, or tools for counterfeiting. Moving stolen veterans' memorials (such as grave markers or headstones) across state lines is also covered.