I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5214 

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

payees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Ms. TLAIB (for herself and Mr. MEADOWS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Fraud Prevention Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE FRAUD. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

9 States Code, is amended— 


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

2 at the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (32), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

7 (including an organization) designated under section 

8 8345(e)(1) to receive payments on behalf of a minor 

9 or an individual mentally incompetent or under other 

10 legal disability.’’. 

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

12 States Code, is amended— 

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

14 at the end; 

15 (B) in paragraph (38), by striking the pe16 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

19 (including an organization) designated under section 

20 8466(c)(1) to receive payments on behalf of a minor 

21 or an individual mentally incompetent or under other 

22 legal disability.’’. 

23 (b) EMBEZZLEMENT OR CONVERSION.— 


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

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

3 after section 8345 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 

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

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

7 representative payee to embezzle or in any manner 

8 convert all or any part of the amounts received from 

9 payments received as a representative payee to a use 

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

11 individual on whose behalf such payments were re12 ceived. 

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

14 that a representative payee has embezzled or con15 verted payments as described in paragraph (1), the 

16 Office shall promptly— 

17 ‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment 

18 of benefits to the representative payee; and 

19 ‘‘(B) certify payment— 

20 ‘‘(i) to another representative payee; 

21 or 

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

23 under this title would be served thereby, to 

24 the individual. 


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

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

3 more than 5 years, or both.’’. 

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

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

6 after section 8466 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 

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

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

10 representative payee to embezzle or in any manner 

11 convert all or any part of the amounts received from 

12 payments received as a representative payee to a use 

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

14 individual on whose behalf such payments were re15 ceived. 

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

17 that a representative payee has embezzled or con18 verted payments as described in paragraph (1), the 

19 Office shall promptly— 

20 ‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment 

21 of benefits to the representative payee; and 

22 ‘‘(B) certify payment— 

23 ‘‘(i) to another representative payee; 

24 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 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND8 MENTS.— 

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

10 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in11 serting after the item relating to section 8345 

12 the following: 

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

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

14 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in15 serting after the item relating to section 8466 

16 the following: 

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

17 (c) DEFERRAL OF PAYMENT PENDING APPOINT18 MENT OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE.— 

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

20 States Code, is amended— 

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

22 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in23 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

24 (C) in the second sentence— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi2 zation)’’ after ‘‘any person’’; and 

3 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and may appro4 priately receive such payments on behalf of 

5 the claimant’’ after ‘‘claimant’’ the second 

6 place it appears; and 

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

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

9 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

10 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 

11 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

12 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep13 resentative payee is made. The Office shall resume pay14 ment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.’’. 

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

16 States Code, is amended— 

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

18 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in19 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

20 (C) in the second sentence— 

21 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi22 zation)’’ after ‘‘any person’’; and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and may appro24 priately receive such payments on behalf of 


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1 the claimant’’ after ‘‘claimant’’ the second 

2 place it appears; and 

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

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

5 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

6 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 

7 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

8 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep9 resentative payee is made. The Office shall resume pay10 ment as soon as practicable, including all amounts due.’’. 

11 (d) LIMITATIONS ON APPOINTMENTS OF REP12 RESENTATIVE PAYEES.— 

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

14 States Code, is amended by inserting after sub15 section (e) the following: 

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

17 payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal dis18 ability under subsection (e) if that person has been con19 victed of a violation of— 

20 ‘‘(1) section 8345a or 8466a; 

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

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

23 ‘‘(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). 

Æ 


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