2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 102 - General Cooperative Associations Act (2004) › Subchapter XVII - Prohibitions and Penalties (§§ 4665 — 4667) › § 4666 - Felonies

(a) Any member of the Board of Directors or the committees and any executive officer, employee or agent of a cooperative who incurs and is convicted of any of the following felonies shall be punished with imprisonment for a fixed term of six (6) years:
(1) Takes or unlawfully uses money, funds or credits of a cooperative or existing securities thereof;
(2) without being duly authorized, issues a certificate of deposit, change order or transfers a note, bond, money order, letter of exchange, or accepts or makes any false entry in any book, report, or statement of the cooperative with the intent to defraud it or to defraud any other natural or juridical person or any other cooperative entity, or with the intent to deceit the Office of the Inspector of Cooperatives or any other executive employee or person designated to audit, review or investigate the affairs of the cooperative;
(3) receives any fees, commissions, gifts or things of value from any person, entity or corporation for obtaining or attempting to obtain any loan, purchase or discount from any document, note, money order, check or letter of exchange from any cooperative, or
(4) receives any benefit for the rendering of any service that would ordinarily be rendered by the cooperative to the person if he/she complies with the requirements it has established.
(b) Likewise, any person who incurs any of the following felonies and is convicted thereof shall be sanctioned with the penalty of imprisonment for a fixed term of six (6) years:
(1) Assisting or allowing any member of the Board or the Committees or any executive officer, employee or agent of a cooperative to incur any of the acts described in clauses (1), (2), (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of this section with the intent to defraud or deceive, or
(2) giving false information on any application or document through which any right, obligation or interest is created, transferred, or terminated or affected, or in other words, giving false information in credit applications, notes, or in any other document with the intent to defraud the cooperative.
(c) If there are aggravating circumstances in one or more of the abovementioned acts, the fixed penalty established may be increased up to a maximum of ten (10) years; if there are mitigating circumstances, the penalty may be reduced to a minimum of four (4) years. The court may impose the penalty of restitution in addition to the penalty of imprisonment established in any of the modalities previously mentioned, or both penalties, at its discretion.
(d) Any juridical person that is not a cooperative and attempts to control, limit, influence or otherwise interfere unlawfully with the powers and actions of cooperatives organized pursuant to this chapter shall incur a felony, and upon conviction, shall be punished with a minimum fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or the suspension of its certificate of incorporation or organization for a minimum term of one (1) year, or both penalties at the discretion of the court.
History —Sept. 1, 2004, No. 239, § 38.1.