H. R. 5214 
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty 
An Act 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prevent fraud by representative payees. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Representative Payee Fraud 
Prevention Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE FRAUD. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) CSRS.—Section 8331 of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (31), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (32), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(33) ‘representative payee’ means a person (including an 
organization) designated under section 8345(e)(1) to receive 
payments on behalf of a minor or an individual mentally incom-
petent or under other legal disability.’’. 
(2) FERS.—Section 8401 of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (37), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (38), by striking the period at the 
end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(39) ‘representative payee’ means a person (including an 
organization) designated under section 8466(c)(1) to receive pay-
ments on behalf of a minor or an individual mentally incom-
petent or under other legal disability.’’. 
(b) EMBEZZLEMENT OR CONVERSION.— 
(1) CSRS.—Subchapter III of chapter 83 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8345 the 
following: 
‘‘§ 8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 
‘‘(a) EMBEZZLING AND CONVERSION GENERALLY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a representative 
payee to embezzle or in any manner convert all or any part 
of the amounts received from payments received as a represent-
ative payee to a use other than for the use and benefit of 
the minor or individual on whose behalf such payments were 
received.
H. R. 5214—2 
‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—If the Office determines that a rep-
resentative payee has embezzled or converted payments as 
described in paragraph (1), the Office shall promptly— 
‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment of benefits 
to the representative payee; and 
‘‘(B) certify payment— 
‘‘(i) to another representative payee; or 
‘‘(ii) if the interest of the individual under this 
title would be served thereby, to the individual. 
‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection (a)(1) shall 
be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, 
or both.’’. 
(2) FERS.—Subchapter VI of chapter 84 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8466 the 
following: 
‘‘§ 8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments 
‘‘(a) EMBEZZLING AND CONVERSION GENERALLY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a representative 
payee to embezzle or in any manner convert all or any part 
of the amounts received from payments received as a represent-
ative payee to a use other than for the use and benefit of 
the minor or individual on whose behalf such payments were 
received. 
‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—If the Office determines that a rep-
resentative payee has embezzled or converted payments as 
described in paragraph (1), the Office shall promptly— 
‘‘(A) revoke the certification for payment of benefits 
to the representative payee; and 
‘‘(B) certify payment— 
‘‘(i) to another representative payee; or 
‘‘(ii) if the interest of the individual under this 
title would be served thereby, to the individual. 
‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection (a)(1) shall 
be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, 
or both.’’. 
(3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) The table of sections for chapter 83 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 8345 the following: 
‘‘8345a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.’’. 
(B) The table of sections for chapter 84 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 8466 the following: 
‘‘8466a. Embezzlement or conversion of payments.’’. 
(c) DEFERRAL
OF PAYMENT PENDING APPOINTMENT
OF REP-
RESENTATIVE PAYEE.— 
(1) CSRS.—Section 8345(e) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(e)’’; 
(B) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(including an 
organization)’’ after ‘‘person’’; 
(C) in the second sentence— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘(including an organization)’’ after 
‘‘any person’’; and
H. R. 5214—4 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Office of Personnel Management— 
(1) shall promulgate regulations to carry out the amend-
ments made by section 2; and 
(2) may promulgate additional regulations relating to the 
administration of the representative payee program. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by section 2— 
(1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act; and 
(2) apply on and after the effective date of the regulations 
promulgated under section 3(b)(1). 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.