H*3323 Session 103 (1979-1980)
H*3323(Rat #0497, Act #0427 of 1980) General Bill, By P. Freeman, J.G. Felder,
L.I. Hendricks, Kirsh and R.L. McFadden
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 14
to Title 16, so as to enact the "Financial Transaction Card Crime Act" and
provide penalties for violations; and to repeal Sections 16-13-270 and
16-13-280, relating to the fraudulent use of credit cards.
01/15/80 House Introduced and read first time HJ-240
01/15/80 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-240
04/09/80 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary HJ-1931
04/15/80 House Amended HJ-2076
04/15/80 House Read second time HJ-2078
04/16/80 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-2104
04/16/80 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-36
04/16/80 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-36
04/30/80 Senate Recalled from Committee on Judiciary SJ-28
05/01/80 Senate Amended SJ-32
05/01/80 Senate Read second time SJ-32
05/02/80 Senate READ THIRD TIME SJ-2
05/02/80 Senate Returned SJ-2
05/14/80 House Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-2820
05/21/80 House Ratified R 497 HJ-2963
05/22/80 Signed By Governor
05/22/80 Effective date 07/01/80
05/22/80 Act No. 427
06/03/80 Copies available
(A427, R497, H3323)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 14
TO TITLE 16, SO AS TO ENACT THE "FINANCIAL TRANSACTION CARD CRIME
ACT" AND PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS; AND TO REPEAL SECTIONS
16-13-270 AND 16-13-280, RELATING TO THE FRAUDULENT USE OF CREDIT CARDS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Financial Transaction Card Crime Act
Section 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding Chapter 14 to Title 16 which
shall read:
"Chapter 14
Financial Transaction Card Crime Act
Section 16-14-10. The following words and phrases as used in this chapter,
unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the
following meanings:
(1) 'Automated banking device' means any machine which when properly
activated by a financial transaction card or personal identification code may
be used for any of the purposes for which a financial transaction card may be
used.
(2) 'Cardholder' means the person or organization named on the face of a
financial transaction card to whom or for whose benefit the financial
transaction card is issued by an issuer.
(3) 'Expired financial transaction card' means a financial transaction card
which is no longer valid because the term shown on it has elapsed.
(4) 'Financial transaction card' or 'FTC' means any instrument or device
whether known as a credit card, credit plate, bank services card, banking
card, check guarantee card, debit card, or by any other name, issued with or
without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder;
(a) in obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value on
credit;
(b) in certifying or guaranteeing to a person or business the availability
to the cardholder of funds on deposit that are equal to or greater than the
amount necessary to honor a draft or check payable to the order of such person
or business;
(c) in providing the cardholder access to a demand deposit account or time
deposit account for the purpose of:
1. making deposits of money or checks therein;
2. withdrawing funds in the form of money, money orders, or traveler's
checks therefrom;
3. transferring funds from any demand deposit account or time deposit
account to any other demand deposit account or time deposit account;
4. transferring funds from any demand deposit account or time deposit
account to any credit card accounts, overdraft privilege accounts, loan
accounts, or any other credit accounts in full or partial satisfaction of any
outstanding balance owed existing therein;
5. for the purchase of goods, services or anything else of value;
6. obtaining information pertaining to any demand deposit account or
time deposit account.
(5) 'Issuer' means the business organization or financial institution or its
duly authorized agent which issues a financial transaction card.
(6) 'Personal identification code' means a numeric or alphabetical code
assigned to the cardholder of a financial transaction card by the issuer to
permit authorized electronic use of that FTC.
(7) 'Presenting' means those actions taken by a cardholder or any person to
introduce a financial transaction card into an automated banking device,
including utilization of a personal identification code, or merely displaying
or showing a financial transaction card to the issuer, or to any person or
organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or
any other entity with intent to defraud.
(8) 'Receives' or 'receiving' means acquiring possession or control or
accepting a financial transaction card as security for a loan.
(9) 'Revoked financial transaction card' means a financial transaction card
which is no longer valid because permission to use it has been suspended or
terminated by the issuer.
Section 16-14-20. (a) A person is guilty of financial transaction card theft
when:
(1) He takes, obtains or withholds a financial transaction card from the
person, possession, custody or control of another without the cardholder's
consent and with the intent to use it; or who, with knowledge that it has been
so taken, obtained or withheld, receives the financial transaction card with
intent to use it or to sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the
issuer or the cardholder;
(2) He receives a financial transaction card that he knows to have been
lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the identity or address of
the cardholder, and who retains possession with intent to use it or to sell it
or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder;
(3) He, not being the issuer, sells a financial transaction card or buys a
financial transaction card from a person other than the issuer;
(4) He, not being the issuer, during any twelve-month period, receives
financial transaction cards issued in the names of two or more persons which
he has reason to know were taken or retained under circumstances which
constitute a violation of Section 16-14-60(a) (3) and subdivision (3) of
subsection (a) of this section.
(b) Taking, obtaining or withholding a financial transaction card without
consent is included in conduct defined as grand larceny.
Conviction of financial transaction card theft is punishable as provided in
Section 16-14-100(b).
Section 16-14-30. When a person has in his possession or under his control
financial transaction cards issued in the names of two or more other persons
other than members of his immediate family, such possession shall be prima
facie evidence that such financial transaction cards have been obtained in
violation of Section 16-14-20(a)
Section 16-14-40. (a) A person is guilty of financial transaction card
forgery when:
(1) With intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization
providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other
person, he falsely makes or falsely embosses a purported financial transaction
card or utters such a financial transaction card;
(2) With intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization
providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other
person, he falsely encodes, duplicates or alters existing encoded information
on a financial transaction card or utters such a financial transaction card;
(3) He, not being the cardholder or a person authorized by him with intent
to defraud the issuer, or a person or organization providing money, goods,
services or anything else of value, or any other person, signs a financial
transaction card.
(b) A person falsely makes a financial transaction card when he makes or
draws, in whole or in part, a device or instrument which purports to be the
financial transaction card of a named issuer but which is not such a financial
transaction card because the issuer did not authorize the making or drawing,
or alters a financial transaction card which was validly issued.
(c) A person falsely embosses a financial transaction card when, without
authorization of the named issuer, he completes a financial transaction card
by adding any of the matter, other than the signature of the cardholder, which
an issuer requires to appear on the financial transaction card before it can
be used by a cardholder.
(d) A person falsely encodes a financial transaction card when, without
authorization of the purported issuer, he records magnetically,
electronically, electro-magnetically or by any other means whatsoever,
information on a financial transaction card which will permit acceptance of
that card by any automated banking device. Conviction of financial transaction
card forgery shall be punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(b).
Section 16-14-50. (a) When a person, other than the purported issuer,
possesses two or more financial transaction cards which are falsely made or
falsely embossed, such possession shall be prima facie evidence that such
cards were detained in violation of Section 16-14-40(a) (1) or Section
16-14-40(a)(2).
(b) When a person, other than the cardholder or a person authorized by him
possesses two or more financial transaction cards which are signed, such
possession shall be prima facie evidence that such cards were obtained in
violation of Section 16-14-40(a)(3).
Section 16-14-60. (a) A person is guilty of financial transaction card fraud
when, with intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing
money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, he
(1) uses for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services or anything
else of value a financial transaction card obtained or retained, or which was
received with knowledge that it was obtained or retained, in violation of
Section 16-14-20 or Section 16-14-40 or a financial transaction card which he
knows is forged, altered, expired, revoked or was obtained as a result of a
fraudulent application in violation of Section 16-14-40(c);
(2) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of value by:
a. representing without the consent of the specified cardholder that he
has permission to use it;
b. presenting the financial transaction card without the authorization or
permission of the cardholder;
c. representing that he is the holder of a card and such card has not in
fact been issued;
d. using a financial transaction card to knowingly and willfully exceed:
1. the actual balance of a demand deposit account or time deposit
account;
2. an authorized credit line in an amount which exceeds
such authorized credit line in the amount of five hundred dollars or fifty
percent of such authorized credit line, whichever is greater, if the
cardholder shall not have paid to the issuer of the financial transaction card
the total amount of the excess over the authorized credit line within ten days
after notice to the cardholder by certified mail to the last known address
that such credit line has been so exceeded. Failure to pay the amount in
excess of the authorized credit line after such notice shall be prima facie
evidence of an intent to defraud;
(3) obtains control over a financial transaction card as security for debt;
(4) deposits into his account or any account, by means of an automated
banking device, a false, fictitious, forged, altered or counterfeit check,
draft, money order, or any other such document not his lawful or legal
property;
(5) receives money, goods, services or anything else of value as a result of
a false, fictitious, forged, altered or counterfeit check, draft, money order
or any other such document having been deposited into an account via an
automated banking device, knowing at the time of receipt of the money, goods,
services, or item of value that the document so deposited was false,
fictitious, forged, altered or counterfeit or that the above deposited item
was not his lawful or legal property.
(b) A person who is authorized By an issuer to furnish money, goods,
services or anything else of value upon presentation of a financial
transaction card by the cardholder, or any agent or employee of such person is
guilty of a financial transaction card fraud when, with intent to defraud the
issuer or the cardholder, he
(1) furnishes money, goods, services or anything else of value upon
presentation of a financial transaction card obtained or retained in violation
of Section 16-14-20, or a financial transaction card which he knows is forged,
expired or revoked;
(2) fails to furnish money, goods, services or anything else of value
which he represents in writing to the issuer that he has furnished.
Conviction of financial transaction card fraud as provided in such sections
(a) or (b) of this section is punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(a)
if the value of all money, goods, services and other things of value furnished
in violation of this section, or if the difference between the value actually
furnished and the value represented to the issuer to have been furnished in
violation of this section does not exceed five hundred dollars in any
six-month period. Conviction of financial transaction card fraud as provided
in subsections (a) or (b) of this section is punishable as provided in Section
16-14-100(b) if such value exceeds five hundred dollars in any six-month
period. Conviction of financial transaction card fraud as provided in
subsection (a) (2) d of this section is punishable as provided in Section
16-14-100(a).
(c) A person is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when, upon
application for a financial transaction card to an issuer, he knowingly makes
or causes to be made a false statement or report relative to his name,
occupation, financial condition, assets, or liabilities or willfully and
substantially overvalues any assets, or willfully omits or substantially
undervalues any indebtedness for the purpose of influencing the issuer to
issue a financial transaction card. Conviction of financial transaction card
fraud as provided in this subsection is punishable as provided in Section
16-14-100(a).
(d) A cardholder is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when he
willfully, knowingly, and with an intent to defraud the issuer, a person or
organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or
any other person, submits, verbally or in writing, to the issuer or any other
person, any false notice or report of the theft, loss, disappearance, or
nonreceipt of his financial transaction card. Conviction of financial
transaction card fraud as provided in this subsection is punishable as
provided in Section 16-14-100(a).
(e) In any prosecution for violation of Section 16-14-60, the State is not
required to establish and it is no defense that some of the acts constituting
the crime did not occur in this State or within one city, county, or local
jurisdiction.
(f) For purposes of this section, revocation shall be construed to include
either notice given in person or notice given in writing to the person to whom
the financial transaction card or personal identification code was issued.
Notice of revocation shall be immediate when notice is given in person. The
sending of a notice in writing by registered or certified mail in the United
States mail, duly stamped and addressed to such person at his last address
known to the issuer, shall be prima facie evidence that such notice was duly
received after seven days from the date of the deposit in the mail. If the
address is located outside the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
the Canal Zone and Canada, notice shall be presumed to have been received ten
days after mailing by registered or certified mail.
Section 16-14-70. (a) A person is guilty of criminal possession of financial
transaction card forgery devices when:
(1) he is a person other than the cardholder and possesses two or more
incomplete financial transaction cards, with intent to complete them without
the consent of the issuer;
(2) he possesses, with knowledge of its character, machinery, plates, or
any other contrivance designed to reproduce instruments purporting to be
financial transaction cards of an issuer who has not consented to the
preparation of such financial transaction cards.
(b) A financial transaction card is incomplete if part of the matter
other than the signature of the cardholder, which an issuer requires to appear
on the financial transaction card before it can be used by a cardholder, has
not yet been stamped, embossed, imprinted, encoded or written upon it.
Conviction of criminal possession of financial transaction card forgery
devices is punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(b).
Section 16-14-80. A person is guilty of criminally receiving goods and
services fraudulently obtained when he receives money, goods, services or
anything else of value obtained in violation of Section 16-14-60(a) with the
knowledge or belief that the same were obtained in violation of Section
16-14-60(a). Conviction of criminal receipt of goods and services fraudulently
obtained is punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(a) if the value of all
the money, goods, services and anything else of value, obtained in violation
of this section, does not exceed five hundred dollars in any six-month period;
conviction of criminal receipt of goods and services fraudulently obtained is
punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(b) if such value exceeds five
hundred dollars in any six-month period.
Section 16-14-90. A person who obtains at a discount price a ticket issued
by an airline, railroad, steamship or other transportation company from other
than an authorized agent of such company which was acquired in violation of
Section 16-14-60(a) without reasonable inquiry to ascertain that the person
from whom it was obtained had a legal right to possess it shall be presumed to
know that such ticket was acquired under circumstances constituting a
violation of Section 16-14-60(a).
Section 16-14-100. (a) A crime punishable under this subsection is a
misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not more than
one thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
(b) A crime punishable under this subsection is a felony and upon conviction
shall be punishable by a fine of not less than three thousand dollars nor more
than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than three years, or
both."
Repeal
Section 2. Sections 16-13-270 and 16-13-280 of the 1976 Code are repealed.
Time effective
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1980. |