II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5214 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2020 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to prevent fraud 

by representative payees. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Representative Payee 

3 Fraud Prevention Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE FRAUD. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

6 (1) CSRS.—Section 8331 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) in paragraph (31), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 at the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (32), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(33) ‘representative payee’ means a person 

14 (including an organization) designated under section 

15 8345(e)(1) to receive payments on behalf of a minor 

16 or an individual mentally incompetent or under other 

17 legal disability.’’. 

18 (2) FERS.—Section 8401 of title 5, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) in paragraph (37), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

21 at the end; 

22 (B) in paragraph (38), by striking the pe23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(39) ‘representative payee’ means a person 

26 (including an organization) designated under section 


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1 8466(c)(1) to receive payments on behalf of a minor 

2 or an individual mentally incompetent or under other 

3 legal disability.’’. 

4 (b) EMBEZZLEMENT OR CONVERSION.— 

5 (1) CSRS.—Subchapter III of chapter 83 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

7 after section 8345 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 

9 ‘‘(a) EMBEZZLING AND CONVERSION GENERALLY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

11 representative payee to embezzle or in any manner 

12 convert all or any part of the amounts received from 

13 payments received as a representative payee to a use 

14 other than for the use and benefit of the minor or 

15 individual on whose behalf such payments were re16 ceived. 

17 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—If the Office determines 

18 that a representative payee has embezzled or con19 verted payments as described in paragraph (1), the 

20 Office shall promptly— 

21 ‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment 

22 of benefits to the representative payee; and 

23 ‘‘(B) certify payment— 

24 ‘‘(i) to another representative payee; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the interest of the individual 

2 under this title would be served thereby, to 

3 the individual. 

4 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

5 (a)(1) shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not 

6 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

7 (2) FERS.—Subchapter VI of chapter 84 of 

8 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

9 after section 8466 the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 

11 ‘‘(a) EMBEZZLING AND CONVERSION GENERALLY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

13 representative payee to embezzle or in any manner 

14 convert all or any part of the amounts received from 

15 payments received as a representative payee to a use 

16 other than for the use and benefit of the minor or 

17 individual on whose behalf such payments were re18 ceived. 

19 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—If the Office determines 

20 that a representative payee has embezzled or con21 verted payments as described in paragraph (1), the 

22 Office shall promptly— 

23 ‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment 

24 of benefits to the representative payee; and 

25 ‘‘(B) certify payment— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to another representative payee; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(ii) if the interest of the individual 

4 under this title would be served thereby, to 

5 the individual. 

6 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

7 (a)(1) shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not 

8 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

9 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND10 MENTS.— 

11 (A) The table of sections for chapter 83 of 

12 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in13 serting after the item relating to section 8345 

14 the following: 

‘‘8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.’’. 

15 (B) The table of sections for chapter 84 of 

16 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in17 serting after the item relating to section 8466 

18 the following: 

‘‘8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.’’. 

19 (c) DEFERRAL OF PAYMENT PENDING APPOINT20 MENT OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE.— 

21 (1) CSRS.—Section 8345(e) of title 5, United 

22 States Code, is amended— 

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(e)’’; 


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1 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in2 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

3 (C) in the second sentence— 

4 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi5 zation)’’ after ‘‘any person’’; and 

6 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and may appro7 priately receive such payments on behalf of 

8 the claimant’’ after ‘‘claimant’’ the second 

9 place it appears; and 

10 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) If the Office determines that direct payment of 

12 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

13 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 

14 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

15 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep16 resentative payee is made. The Office shall resume pay17 ment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.’’. 

18 (2) FERS.—Section 8466(c) of title 5, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

21 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in22 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

23 (C) in the second sentence— 

24 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi25 zation)’’ after ‘‘any person’’; and 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and may appro2 priately receive such payments on behalf of 

3 the claimant’’ after ‘‘claimant’’ the second 

4 place it appears; and 

5 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(2) If the Office determines that direct payment of 

7 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

8 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 

9 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

10 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep11 resentative payee is made. The Office shall resume pay12 ment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.’’. 

13 (d) LIMITATIONS ON APPOINTMENTS OF REP14 RESENTATIVE PAYEES.— 

15 (1) CSRS.—Section 8345 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, is amended by inserting after sub17 section (e) the following: 

18 ‘‘(f) The Office may not authorize a person to receive 

19 payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal dis20 ability under subsection (e) if that person has been con21 victed of a violation of— 

22 ‘‘(1) section 8345a or 8466a; 

23 ‘‘(2) section 208 or 1632 of the Social Security 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 408, 1383a); or 

25 ‘‘(3) section 6101 of title 38.’’. 


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1 (2) FERS.—Section 8466 of title 5, United 

2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(d) The Office may not authorize a person to receive 

5 payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal dis6 ability under subsection (c) if that person has been con7 victed of a violation of— 

8 ‘‘(1) section 8345a or 8466a; 

9 ‘‘(2) section 208 or 1632 of the Social Security 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 408, 1383a); or 

11 ‘‘(3) section 6101 of title 38.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Section 

14 8348(a)(1)(B) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

15 by inserting ‘‘in administering fraud prevention under sec16 tions 8345, 8345a, 8466, and 8466a of this title,’’ after 

17 ‘‘8465(b) of this title,’’. 

18 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Personnel 

20 Management— 

21 (1) shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

22 the amendments made by section 2; and 

23 (2) may promulgate additional regulations re24 lating to the administration of the representative 

25 payee program. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by section 2— 

3 (1) shall take effect on the date of the enact4 ment of this Act; and 

5 (2) apply on and after the effective date of the 

6 regulations promulgated under section 3(b)(1). 

Passed the House of Representatives February 5, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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