2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE ONE - The Commonwealth (§§ 1 — 5289) › Chapter 20 - Transitional Process of Government (§§ 456 — 477) › § 475 - Sanctions and penalties

(a) Perjury.— Any Secretary, head of an agency or director of a public corporation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico who knowingly includes false information on the status of an agency in a transition report, shall incur perjury and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to the penalty established therefore in the Puerto Rico Penal Code.
(b) Destruction or mutilation of public documents.— Any public official or employee who destroys, loses or conceals any type of information, records or files including electronic files, with the intent to delay or hinder the transition process, or to evade his/her responsibility in any agency, department, or public corporation of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall incur a felony and upon conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for six (6) years. If there were aggravating circumstances, the penalty may be increased to ten (10) years of imprisonment. It there were extenuating circumstances, the penalty may be reduced to a minimum of four (4) years of imprisonment.
(c) Civil action.—
(1) Any member of the Incoming Transition Committee who uses or discloses privileged information on the business of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to which he/she had access in the transition process, for his/her profit, or that of any client, or relative within the third degree of consanguinity and second of affinity, may be sued for damages by the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in order to claim a monetary compensation of up to three (3) times the income or profit obtained for him/herself or for a third party, from the privileged business information obtained in the performance of his/her functions as a member of the Incoming Transition Committee.
(2) It is hereby provided that the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, through the Secretary of Justice, may file a civil suit before the Court of First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico against any natural or juridical person who has incurred the actions described in clause (1) of this subsection, in order to claim the adjudication of a monetary compensation of up to three (3) times the amount or the total financial profit obtained by any natural or juridical person by using or disclosing information of the Transition Committee for his/her financial benefit or for the benefit of third parties. This cause of action shall have a term of prescription of five (5) years counted from the date that the Final Report of the Transition Process established in § 473 of this title, is rendered.
(3) For the purposes of §§ 458—477 of this title, the use or disclosure of privileged information on the business of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico by a member of the Incoming Transition Committee for his/her financial benefit, or that of any client or relative within the third degree of consanguinity and second of affinity, and the amount of the financial profit obtained, may be proved by robust and convincing evidence.
History —Aug. 18, 2002, No. 197, § 19.