II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1430 

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

payees. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 13, 2019 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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) appointed 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) appointed 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 revoke payments to the rep17 resentative payee. 

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

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

20 more than 5 years, or both. 

21 ‘‘(c) PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.—Any willful neglect 

22 or refusal by a representative payee to make and file prop23 er accountings or reports concerning the amounts received 

24 from payments authorized under section 8345(e) as re25 quired by law shall be taken to be sufficient evidence 


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1 prima facie of the embezzlement or conversion of such 

2 amounts.’’. 

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

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

5 after section 8466 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 

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

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

9 representative payee to embezzle or in any manner 

10 convert all or any part of the amounts received from 

11 payments received as a representative payee to a use 

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

13 individual on whose behalf such payments were re14 ceived. 

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

16 that a representative payee has embezzled or con17 verted payments as described in paragraph (1), the 

18 Office shall promptly revoke payments to the rep19 resentative payee. 

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

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

22 more than 5 years, or both. 

23 ‘‘(c) PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.—Any willful neglect 

24 or refusal by a representative payee to make and file prop25 er accountings or reports concerning the amounts received 


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1 from payments authorized under section 8466(c) as re2 quired by law shall be taken to be sufficient evidence 

3 prima facie of the embezzlement or conversion of such 

4 amounts.’’. 

5 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND6 MENTS.— 

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

8 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in9 serting after the item relating to section 8345 

10 the following: 

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

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

12 title 5, United States Code, is amended by in13 serting after the item relating to section 8466 

14 the following: 

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

15 (c) DEFERRAL OF PAYMENT PENDING APPOINT16 MENT OF REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE.— 

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

18 States Code, is amended— 

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

20 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in21 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

22 (C) in the second sentence— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi24 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’’; and 

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

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

6 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

7 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 

8 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

9 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep10 resentative payee is made.’’. 

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

12 States Code, is amended— 

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

14 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in15 cluding an organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 

16 (C) in the second sentence— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organi18 zation)’’ after ‘‘any person’’; and 

19 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and may appro20 priately receive such payments on behalf of 

21 the claimant’’ after ‘‘claimant’’; and 

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

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

24 a benefit to an individual mentally incompetent or under 

25 other legal disability would cause substantial harm to the 


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1 individual, the Office may defer or suspend direct payment 

2 of the benefit until such time as the appointment of a rep3 resentative payee is made.’’. 

4 (d) LIMITATIONS ON APPOINTMENTS OF REP5 RESENTATIVE PAYEES.— 

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

7 States Code, is amended by inserting after sub8 section (e) the following: 

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

10 payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal dis11 ability under subsection (e) if that person has been con12 victed of a violation of— 

13 ‘‘(1) section 8345a or 8466a; 

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

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 408 and 1383a); or 

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

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

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

19 following: 

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

21 payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal dis22 ability under subsection (c) if that person has been con23 victed of a violation of— 

24 ‘‘(1) section 8345a or 8466a; 


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

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 408 and 1383a); or 

3 ‘‘(3) section 6101 of title 38.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Amounts in 

6 the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund may be 

7 used by the Office of Personnel Management, without fur8 ther appropriation, for the cost of activities of the Office 

9 relating to preventing fraud by representative payees (as 

10 defined in section 8331 and 8401 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, as amended by this Act). 

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

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

14 Management— 

15 (1) shall promulgate regulations to carry out 

16 the amendments made by this Act; and 

17 (2) may promulgate additional regulations re18 lating to the administration of the representative 

19 payee program. 

20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 The amendments made by this Act— 

22 (1) shall take effect on the date of the enact23 ment of this Act; and 


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

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

Æ 


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