2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 67 - Savings and Loans Labor Bank of Puerto Rico (§§ 801 — 825) › § 823 - Penalties

(a) If the Bank violates any of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury hereunder, it shall be subject to an administrative fine to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, and which in no case shall exceed ($1,000) dollars.
(b) Every director, officer or manager of the Bank who violates any of the provisions of this chapter and the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be subject to an administrative fine to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, and which in no case shall exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for the first violation, and in case of recidivism he shall incur in a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment for a term of not more than two (2) years, or both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
(c) Every Bank director, officer, employee or agent who misappropriates money, funds or credits of the Bank, or securities existing therein, or who, without being duly authorized, issues or extends any certificate of deposit, draws any order or bill of exchange or any acceptance, transfers any note, bond, draft, bill of exchange, mortgage, judgment or decree, or who makes any false entry in any book, report or balance sheet of the bank with the intent, in any of these cases, to damage or defraud the bank or any other company, person or corporation, or any individual, or to cheat any bank officer or any agent appointed to examine the bank’s business; and any person, who with like intent, helps or allows any officer, agent or employee to commit any violation of this section, shall be guilty of a felony, and punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years; Provided, That the Bank shall collect, dispose of, and cover into its funds, any life policy it has taken out and whose premiums it has paid up to the sum embezzled or misappropriated by the insured employee. Such employee, his beneficiaries, assignees and successors shall forfeit all rights and benefits in said policies.
(d) Any officer, agent, collector, teller or clerk of the Bank who receives any deposit knowing that it is insolvent, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if the amount or value of the deposit is less than one hundred dollars ($100). If the amount or value of the deposit is of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, said person shall be guilty of a felony, and punished by imprisonment for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years or by a fine of not less than five hundred ($500) nor more than three thousand dollars ($3,000), or both penalties, in the discretion of the court. For purposes of this chapter the Bank shall be considered insolvent when after an examination by the Secretary it is determined that it has lost all its reserves and an amount equal or greater than one-third (1 / 3) of its capital.
(e) Any Bank officer, director, employee or agent who stipulates, receives, consents or agrees to receive any fee, commission, gift or thing of value from any person, firm or corporation for getting or trying to get for such person, firm or corporation, or for any other person, firm or corporation, any loan, or the purchase of or discount on any instrument, note, draft, check or bill of exchange, through the Bank, shall be guilty of a felony, and punished by imprisonment for a term of no less than one (1) year and no more than five (5) years, or by a fine amounting to at least two (2) times the amount involved, or by both penalties in the discretion of the court.
(f) The Secretary of the Treasury may impose and collect from the Bank an administrative fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each week the Bank fails to maintain the minimum legal reserve required or that may be required under this section. Should the Bank be subjected to an administrative fine under this paragraph, and not pay it within the term of fifteen (15) days reckoning from the date of notice of its imposition, the Secretary of the Treasury may bring a civil action in the San Juan Part of the Court of First Instance for the collection of said administrative fine.
(g) If any director, officer or employee of the Bank knowingly makes a false entry, or furnishes data or information or makes statements in any report the Secretary may request, with the intent of impairing or defrauding the Bank or any other natural or juridical person, or of cheating any officer of the Bank or any examiner or the Secretary, such director, officer or employee shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction punished by imprisonment for a term of not more than five (5) years.
(h) Every Bank director, officer, employee or agent who violates any of the provisions of this chapter and/or its regulations, or misappropriates any of the securities specified in this section; and, every person who helps or allows any bank director, officer, agent or employee to incur violation of this chapter and/or its regulations, or in the misappropriation of said securities, shall be responsible for the damages that the Bank, its stockholders or any other person may sustain as a result of said acts, with his property.
History —June 14, 1960, No. 86, p. 182, § 23; July 1, 1975, No. 134, Part 1, p. 404, § 8; June 30, 1978, No. 89, p. 274, § 1.