Conflict of Interest - Mark R Simmons

Articles on Fraud Investigation

TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

CITE 18 USCA - 01/24/94

Sec. 4. Misprision of felony

-STATUTE-

Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

SOURCE- (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 684.)

Based on title 18, U.S.C. 1940 ed., Sec. 251 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, Sec. 146, 35 Stat. 1114). Changes in phraseology only.

CROSS REFERENCES

Concealing escaped prisoners, see section 1072 of this title.
Concealing or harboring persons engaged in espionage, see section 792 of this title.
Concealing persons from arrest, see section 1071 of this title.
Harboring fugitives from justice, see section 1071 et. seq. of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in title 50 section 422.

A misprision of a felony is the concealment of a felony without giving any degree of maintenance to the felony.

To sustain a conviction of misprision of a felony, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt:

that the principal had committed and completed the felony alleged;
that the defendant had full knowledge of that fact;
that the defendant failed to notify authorities; and
that the defendant took affirmative steps to conceal the crime of the principal.

The elements of misprision of a feloney, both of which must be proved to support conviction, are:

concealment of something, such as suppression of evidence or some other positive act; and
failure to disclose.

Failure to disclose, without active concealment, is not a felony.

U.S. v Sullivan, D.C. Okl. 1968, 284F.2d,Supp579:

Indictment alleged that the specified person committed offense cognizable by courts of the United States, that defendant had knowledge of actual commission of such offense, that defendant willfully concealed the crime; and that defendant did not as soon as possible make known the commission of the crime to authorities. This was sufficient to charge the offense of misprison of a felony, not withstanding failure to allege evidentiary details of concealment.

Giving or making an untruthful statement about issues related to commission of a felony constitutes an affirmative step to conceal the crime. U.S. v Hodges, C.A.O. 1977 566F.2d, 674.

Examples of acts to conceal fraud include:

changing, hiding or destroying official records in order to conceal the fraudulent act;
suppression of evidence regarding the fraudulent act;
directlry or indirectly causing others to withold or surpress information pertaining to the fraudulent act;
making false statements to investigators regarding the fraudulent act;
or any other affirmative action designed to conceal the fraudulent act from authorities.

This material has been provided for informational purposes only. If you believe you have a legal issue to resolve, consult a qualified attorney.

Home | Bio | Internal Auditing | Fraud Investigation | Request to Reprint

Internal Auditing and Fraud Investigation

Mark R. Simmons, CIA, CFE

Articles on Fraud Investigation