USC - Offenses and penalties

View all text of Chapter 14 A [§ 631 - § 657u]

§ 645. Offenses and penalties

(a) False statements; overvaluation of securities

(b) Embezzlement, etc.

(d) Misrepresentation, etc.

(1) Whoever misrepresents the status of any concern or person as a “small business concern”, a “qualified HUBZone small business concern”, a “small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans”, a “small business concern owned and controlled by veterans”, a “small business concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals”, or a “small business concern owned and controlled by women”, in order to obtain for oneself or another any—

(A) prime contract to be awarded pursuant to section 637, 638, 644, 657a, 657f, or 657f–1 of this title;

(B) subcontract to be awarded pursuant to section 637(a) of this title;

(C) subcontract that is to be included as part or all of a goal contained in a subcontracting plan required pursuant to section 637(d) of this title; or

(D) prime or subcontract to be awarded as a result, or in furtherance, of any other provision of Federal law that specifically references section 637(d) of this title for a definition of program eligibility,1

1 So in original. Following provision probably should be set flush with par. (1).

shall be subject to the penalties and remedies described in paragraph (2).

(2) Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall—

(A) be punished by a fine of not more than $500,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both;

(B) be subject to the administrative remedies prescribed by the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (31 U.S.C. 3801–3812);

(C) be subject to suspension and debarment as specified in subpart 9.4 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation); and

(D) be ineligible for participation in any program or activity conducted under the authority of this chapter or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 661 et seq.) for a period not to exceed 3 years.

(3)Limitation on liability.—This subsection shall not apply to any conduct in violation of subsection (a) if the defendant acted in good faith reliance on a written advisory opinion from a Small Business Development Center (as defined in this chapter), or an entity participating in the Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program defined in chapter 388 of title 10; however nothing in this chapter shall obligate either entity to provide such a letter nor shall the provision of such a letter in any way render the providing entity liable to the business concern should the Administrator later determine that the concern is not a small business concern. Upon issuance of an advisory opinion under this paragraph, the entity issuing the advisory opinion shall remit a copy of the opinion to the General Counsel of the Administration, who may reject the advisory opinion. If the General Counsel of the Administration rejects the advisory opinion, the Administration shall notify the entity issuing the advisory opinion and the recipient of the opinion, after which time the business concern may not rely upon the opinion.

(e) Representations under subsection (d) to be in writing

(f) Misrepresentation of compliance with section 636(j)(10)(I)

(g) Subcontracting limitations

(1) In generalWhoever violates a requirement established under section 657s of this title shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subsection (d), except that, for an entity that exceeded a limitation on subcontracting under such section, the fine described in subsection (d)(2)(A) shall be treated as the greater of—

(A) $500,000; or

(B) the dollar amount expended, in excess of permitted levels, by the entity on subcontractors.

(2) Monitoring

(Pub. L. 85–536, § 2[16], July 18, 1958, 72 Stat. 395; Pub. L. 88–264, § 2, Feb. 5, 1964, 78 Stat. 8; Pub. L. 99–272, title XVIII, § 18009, Apr. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 368; Pub. L. 100–656, title IV, § 405, Nov. 15, 1988, 102 Stat. 3875; Pub. L. 103–355, title VII, § 7106(c), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3376; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1073(g)(4), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1906; Pub. L. 105–135, title VI, § 603(c), Dec. 2, 1997, 111 Stat. 2632; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title XVI, §§ 1652, 1681(a), 1682(a), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 2081, 2085, 2086; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, § 862(d)(2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3780; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title XVII, § 1702(e)(6), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2157.)