NY State Senate Bill 2013-S3104A

Senate Bill S3104A

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Establishes the inmate fraud act, which creates the crime of inmate fraud, allows inmates accounts to be frozen and establishes the victim of inmate fraud fund

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 10, 2014	print number 3104a
Feb 10, 2014	amend and recommit to codes
Jan 08, 2014	referred to codes
Jan 30, 2013	referred to codes

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2013-S3104 - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §10.00, add §190.87, Pen L; add §80, Cor L; add §99-v, St Fin L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S6779
2011-2012: S1104

2013-S3104 - Summary

Establishes the inmate fraud act, which creates the crime of inmate fraud; allows inmates' accounts to be frozen and establishes the victims of inmate fraud fund.

2013-S3104 - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3104

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establish-
ing the crime of inmate fraud, to amend the correction law, in relation
to freezing accounts of inmates and to amend the state finance law, in
relation to establishing the victims of inmate fraud fund

PURPOSE:  The purpose of this legislation is to protect the public from
frauds perpetrated by inmates of correctional institutions, and to
establish a fund to recompense victims of such frauds.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one is the short title, which provides the act shall be known as
the "inmate fraud act."

Section two amends section 10.00 of the penal law by adding a new subdi-
vision 21 that defines the term "inmate," for the purposes of section
190.87 of the penal law, to mean a person who is in the custody of the
department of corrections, a sheriff, a county jailor a secure facility.

Section three amends the penal law by adding a new section, 190.87,
which provides for the elements of the crime of inmate fraud, which is a
class C felony.

Section four amends the correction law by adding a new section 80, which

provides the procedures the department will follow upon reasonable
suspicion of inmate fraud. Such procedures will provide due process to
the alleged perpetrator, and restitution to the victim, if inmate fraud
is found to have occurred.

Section five amends the state finance law by adding a new section 99-u,
which creates the "victims of inmate fraud fund" in the custody of the
state comptroller. This fund shall be used to hold funds resulting from
inmate fraud that have been unable to be returned to the victim of such
fraud.

Section 6 this act shall take effect on the first of November next
succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.

JUSTIFICATION:  Fraud committed by inmates upon the general public is a
widespread problem. In 2006, for example, a group of inmates in Michigan
were convicted of running a tax fraud and identity theft operation from
their prison cells which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars
being obtained by fraud. (See release by Attorney General Mike Cox,
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739 34811-150774-.00. html,
last visited on February 3, 2010.) Another example, ran on January 25,
2010 in the San Jose Mercury, described a credit card and identity theft
ring run by a California prison inmate that defrauded credit card compa-
nies out of more than $130,000. On a nationwide basis, the examples of
such inmate-perpetrated fraud are too numerous to list here.

This legislation amends New York's penal and correction laws to protect
New Yorkers from identity theft, theft of telecommunications services,
credit card theft, and a variety of other types of inmate fraud that
victimize the innocent. Other states have enacted similar legislation,
such as: Indiana, in 2008; Illinois, in 2009; Florida, which amended its
law in 2000; and various counties in Texas.

The purpose of these laws is to ensure that incarcerated criminals who
commit crimes while imprisoned are properly penalized, and to effectuate
restitution to the victims of these criminal schemes.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  2011-12: S.1104A - Referred to Codes 2009-10:
S.6779 - Referred to Codes

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  To be determined.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the first of November
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.

2013-S3104 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3104

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 30, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime  of
  inmate  fraud,  to  amend  the correction law, in relation to freezing
  accounts of inmates and to amend the state finance law, in relation to
  establishing the victims of inmate fraud fund

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  This  act  shall be known and may be cited as "the inmate
fraud act".
  S 2. Section 10.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new  subdi-
vision 22 to read as follows:
  22.  FOR PURPOSES OF SECTION 190.87 OF THIS CHAPTER, THE TERM "INMATE"
SHALL MEAN A PERSON WHO IS CONFINED IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT  OF
CORRECTION, A SHERIFF, A COUNTY JAIL OR A SECURE JUVENILE FACILITY.
  S  3.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 190.87 to read
as follows:
S 190.87 INMATE FRAUD.
  AN INMATE WHO, WITH THE INTENT OF OBTAINING MONEY  OR  OTHER  PROPERTY
FROM  A  PERSON WHO IS NOT AN INMATE, KNOWINGLY OR INTENTIONALLY MAKES A
MISREPRESENTATION TO A PERSON WHO  IS  NOT  AN  INMATE  AND  OBTAINS  OR
ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN MONEY OR OTHER PROPERTY FROM THE PERSON WHO IS NOT AN
INMATE;  OR  OBTAINS  OR ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN MONEY OR OTHER PROPERTY FROM
THE PERSON WHO IS NOT AN INMATE  THROUGH  A  MISREPRESENTATION  MADE  BY
ANOTHER PERSON IS GUILTY OF INMATE FRAUD.
  INMATE FRAUD IS A CLASS C FELONY.
  S  4. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 80 to read
as follows:
  S 80. INMATE FRAUD; FREEZING INMATE ACCOUNTS.   1. IF  THE  DEPARTMENT
HAS  REASONABLE  SUSPICION THAT MONEY IN AN INMATE'S ACCOUNT WAS DERIVED
FROM THE COMMISSION OF INMATE FRAUD, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 190.87 OF THE

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06821-02-3

S. 3104                             2

PENAL LAW, THE DEPARTMENT MAY FREEZE ALL  OR  A  PART  OF  THE  INMATE'S
ACCOUNT  FOR  NOT MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS WHILE THE DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTS AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER  MONEY  IN  THE  INMATE'S
ACCOUNT DERIVES FROM INMATE FRAUD. IF THE DEPARTMENT FREEZES THE ACCOUNT
OF  AN INMATE UNDER THIS SECTION, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOTIFY THE INMATE
IN WRITING.
  2. IF THE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATION REVEALS  THAT  NO  MONEY  IN  THE
INMATE'S  ACCOUNT  WAS  DERIVED  FROM INMATE FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL
UNFREEZE THE ACCOUNT AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE INVESTIGATION.
  3. IF  THE  DEPARTMENT'S  INVESTIGATION  REVEALS  THAT  MONEY  IN  THE
INMATE'S  ACCOUNT  MAY  HAVE  BEEN DERIVED FROM THE COMMISSION OF INMATE
FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL  NOTIFY  THE  PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY  OF  THE
RESULTS OF THE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATION.
  4.  IF  THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY CHARGES THE INMATE WITH INMATE FRAUD,
THE DEPARTMENT SHALL FREEZE THE INMATE'S ACCOUNT UNTIL THE CASE  REACHES
FINAL JUDGMENT.
  5.  IF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY DOES NOT CHARGE THE INMATE WITH INMATE
FRAUD, OR IF THE INMATE IS ACQUITTED OF THE CHARGE OF INMATE FRAUD,  THE
DEPARTMENT SHALL UNFREEZE THE INMATE'S ACCOUNT.
  6.  IF  THE  INMATE  IS  CONVICTED OF INMATE FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT, IN
CONSULTATION WITH THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, SHALL LOCATE  THE  MONEY  OR
PROPERTY DERIVED FROM INMATE FRAUD AND RETURN IT TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER.
  7. IF, NINETY DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF AN INMATE'S CONVICTION FOR INMATE
FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT HAS LOCATED THE MONEY OR PROPERTY DERIVED FROM THE
COMMISSION  OF  INMATE  FRAUD  BUT  IS UNABLE TO RETURN THE MONEY TO THE
RIGHTFUL OWNER, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL DEPOSIT THE MONEY IN THE VICTIMS OF
INMATE FRAUD FUND ESTABLISHED BY  SECTION  NINETY-NINE-U  OF  THE  STATE
FINANCE LAW.
  8.  CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION HELD BY THE DEPARTMENT ABOUT A PERSON WHO
HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT SHALL BE DISCLOSED TO A PERSON  WHO
IS  OR  MAY BE THE VICTIM OF INMATE FRAUD IF THE COMMISSIONER DETERMINES
THAT THE INTEREST IN DISCLOSURE OVERRIDES THE INTEREST TO BE  SERVED  BY
NONDISCLOSURE  OR  IF THE COMMISSIONER DETERMINES THERE EXISTS A COMPEL-
LING PUBLIC INTEREST FOR DISCLOSURE WHICH OVERRIDES THE INTEREST  TO  BE
SERVED BY NONDISCLOSURE.
  S  5. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-u to
read as follows:
  S 99-U. VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND. 1. THERE IS  HEREBY  ESTABLISHED
IN  THE  CUSTODY  OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER A SPECIAL FUND TO BE KNOWN AS
THE "VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND".
  2. THE VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND SHALL CONSIST OF MONEYS  DEPOSITED
THEREIN   PURSUANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  SEVEN  OF  SECTION  EIGHTY  OF  THE
CORRECTION LAW.
  3. THE MONEYS IN THE VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND SHALL BE KEPT  SEPA-
RATE  FROM  AND  SHALL  NOT  BE  COMMINGLED WITH ANY OTHER MONEYS IN THE
CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER. SUCH MONEYS SHALL BE ALLOCATED TO  AND
EXPENDED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION
SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADMINISTERING SECTION EIGHTY OF THE CORRECTION
LAW.
  S 6. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

2013-S3104A (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §10.00, add §190.87, Pen L; add §80, Cor L; add §99-v, St Fin L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S6779
2011-2012: S1104

2013-S3104A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the inmate fraud act, which creates the crime of inmate fraud; allows inmates' accounts to be frozen and establishes the victims of inmate fraud fund.

2013-S3104A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3104A

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to
establishing the crime of inmate fraud, to amend the correction law,
in relation to freezing accounts of inmates and to amend the state
finance law, in relation to establishing the victims of inmate fraud
fund

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to protect the public from frauds
perpetrated by inmates of correctional institutions, and to establish
a fund to recompense victims of such frauds.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one is the short title, which provides the act shall be known
as the "inmate fraud act."

Section two amends section 10.00 of the penal law by adding a new
subdivision 21 that defines the term "inmate," for the purposes
of,section 190.87 of the penal law, to mean a person who is in the
custody of the department of corrections, a sheriff, a county jailor a
secure facility.

Section three amends the penal law by adding a new section, 190.87,

which provides for the elements of the crime of inmate fraud, which is
a class C felony.

Section four amends the correction law by adding a new section 80,
which provides the procedures the department will follow upon
reasonable suspicion of inmate fraud. Such procedures will provide due
process to the alleged perpetrator, and restitution to the victim, if
inmate fraud is found to have occurred.

Section five amends the state finance law by adding a new section
99-u, which creates the "victims of inmate fraud fund" in the custody
of the state comptroller. This fund shall be used to hold funds
resulting from inmate fraud that have been unable to be returned to
the victim of such fraud.

Section 6 this act shall take effect on the first of November next
succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.

JUSTIFICATION:

Fraud committed by inmates upon the general public is a widespread
problem. In 2006, for example, a group of inmates in Michigan were
convicted of running a tax fraud and identity theft operation from
their prison cells which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars
being obtained by fraud. (See release by Attorney General Mike Cox,
http://www.michigan.goviag/0,1607,7-164-34739 34811-150774-.00. html,
last visited on February 3, 2010.) Another example, ran on January 25,
2010 in the San Jose Mercury, described a credit card and identity
theft ring run by a California prison inmate that defrauded credit
card companies out of more than $130,000. On a nationwide basis, the


examples of such inmate-perpetrated fraud are too numerous to list
here.

This legislation amends New York's penal and correction laws to
protect New Yorkers from identity theft, theft of telecommunications
services, credit card theft, and a variety of other types of inmate
fraud that victimize the innocent. Other states have enacted similar
legislation, such as: Indiana, in 2008; Illinois, in 2009; Florida,
which amended its law in 2000; and various counties in Texas.

The purpose of these laws is to ensure that incarcerated criminals who
commit crimes while imprisoned axe properly penalized, and to
effectuate restitution to the victims of these criminal schemes.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2011-12: S.1104A - Referred to Codes
2009-10: S.6779 - Referred to Codes

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding
the date on which it shall have become law.

2013-S3104A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 3104--A

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 30, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes  --  recommitted  to
  the  Committee  on  Codes  in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
  committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
  recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
  inmate fraud, to amend the correction law,  in  relation  to  freezing
  accounts of inmates and to amend the state finance law, in relation to
  establishing the victims of inmate fraud fund

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. This act shall be known and may be  cited  as  "the  inmate
fraud act".
  S  2. Section 10.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
vision 22 to read as follows:
  22. FOR PURPOSES OF SECTION 190.87 OF THIS CHAPTER, THE TERM  "INMATE"
SHALL  MEAN A PERSON WHO IS CONFINED IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTION, A SHERIFF, A COUNTY JAIL OR A SECURE JUVENILE FACILITY.
  S 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 190.87  to  read
as follows:
S 190.87 INMATE FRAUD.
  AN  INMATE  WHO,  WITH THE INTENT OF OBTAINING MONEY OR OTHER PROPERTY
FROM A PERSON WHO IS NOT AN INMATE, KNOWINGLY OR INTENTIONALLY  MAKES  A
MISREPRESENTATION  TO  A  PERSON  WHO  IS  NOT  AN INMATE AND OBTAINS OR
ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN MONEY OR OTHER PROPERTY FROM THE PERSON WHO IS NOT AN
INMATE; OR OBTAINS OR ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN MONEY OR  OTHER  PROPERTY  FROM
THE  PERSON  WHO  IS  NOT  AN INMATE THROUGH A MISREPRESENTATION MADE BY
ANOTHER PERSON IS GUILTY OF INMATE FRAUD.
  INMATE FRAUD IS A CLASS C FELONY.
  S 4. The correction law is amended by adding a new section 80 to  read
as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06821-03-4

S. 3104--A                          2

  S  80.  INMATE  FRAUD; FREEZING INMATE ACCOUNTS.  1. IF THE DEPARTMENT
HAS REASONABLE SUSPICION THAT MONEY IN AN INMATE'S ACCOUNT  WAS  DERIVED
FROM THE COMMISSION OF INMATE FRAUD, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 190.87 OF THE
PENAL  LAW,  THE  DEPARTMENT  MAY  FREEZE  ALL OR A PART OF THE INMATE'S
ACCOUNT  FOR  NOT MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS WHILE THE DEPARTMENT
CONDUCTS AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER  MONEY  IN  THE  INMATE'S
ACCOUNT DERIVES FROM INMATE FRAUD. IF THE DEPARTMENT FREEZES THE ACCOUNT
OF  AN INMATE UNDER THIS SECTION, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOTIFY THE INMATE
IN WRITING.
  2. IF THE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATION REVEALS  THAT  NO  MONEY  IN  THE
INMATE'S  ACCOUNT  WAS  DERIVED  FROM INMATE FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL
UNFREEZE THE ACCOUNT AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE INVESTIGATION.
  3. IF  THE  DEPARTMENT'S  INVESTIGATION  REVEALS  THAT  MONEY  IN  THE
INMATE'S  ACCOUNT  MAY  HAVE  BEEN DERIVED FROM THE COMMISSION OF INMATE
FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL  NOTIFY  THE  PROSECUTING  ATTORNEY  OF  THE
RESULTS OF THE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATION.
  4.  IF  THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY CHARGES THE INMATE WITH INMATE FRAUD,
THE DEPARTMENT SHALL FREEZE THE INMATE'S ACCOUNT UNTIL THE CASE  REACHES
FINAL JUDGMENT.
  5.  IF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY DOES NOT CHARGE THE INMATE WITH INMATE
FRAUD, OR IF THE INMATE IS ACQUITTED OF THE CHARGE OF INMATE FRAUD,  THE
DEPARTMENT SHALL UNFREEZE THE INMATE'S ACCOUNT.
  6.  IF  THE  INMATE  IS  CONVICTED OF INMATE FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT, IN
CONSULTATION WITH THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, SHALL LOCATE  THE  MONEY  OR
PROPERTY DERIVED FROM INMATE FRAUD AND RETURN IT TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER.
  7. IF, NINETY DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF AN INMATE'S CONVICTION FOR INMATE
FRAUD, THE DEPARTMENT HAS LOCATED THE MONEY OR PROPERTY DERIVED FROM THE
COMMISSION  OF  INMATE  FRAUD  BUT  IS UNABLE TO RETURN THE MONEY TO THE
RIGHTFUL OWNER, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL DEPOSIT THE MONEY IN THE VICTIMS OF
INMATE FRAUD FUND ESTABLISHED BY  SECTION  NINETY-NINE-V  OF  THE  STATE
FINANCE LAW.
  8.  CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION HELD BY THE DEPARTMENT ABOUT A PERSON WHO
HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT SHALL BE DISCLOSED TO A PERSON  WHO
IS  OR  MAY BE THE VICTIM OF INMATE FRAUD IF THE COMMISSIONER DETERMINES
THAT THE INTEREST IN DISCLOSURE OVERRIDES THE INTEREST TO BE  SERVED  BY
NONDISCLOSURE  OR  IF THE COMMISSIONER DETERMINES THERE EXISTS A COMPEL-
LING PUBLIC INTEREST FOR DISCLOSURE WHICH OVERRIDES THE INTEREST  TO  BE
SERVED BY NONDISCLOSURE.
  S  5. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-v to
read as follows:
  S 99-V. VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND. 1. THERE IS  HEREBY  ESTABLISHED
IN  THE  CUSTODY  OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER A SPECIAL FUND TO BE KNOWN AS
THE "VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND".
  2. THE VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND SHALL CONSIST OF MONEYS  DEPOSITED
THEREIN   PURSUANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  SEVEN  OF  SECTION  EIGHTY  OF  THE
CORRECTION LAW.
  3. THE MONEYS IN THE VICTIMS OF INMATE FRAUD FUND SHALL BE KEPT  SEPA-
RATE  FROM  AND  SHALL  NOT  BE  COMMINGLED WITH ANY OTHER MONEYS IN THE
CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER. SUCH MONEYS SHALL BE ALLOCATED TO  AND
EXPENDED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION
SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADMINISTERING SECTION EIGHTY OF THE CORRECTION
LAW.
  S 6. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

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