829

Bank Bribery (18 U.S.C. § 215) Generally

Four versions of 18 U.S.C. § 215 have been enacted. One is applicable to offenses occurring prior to October 12, 1984. The second is applicable to offenses occurring in the period on or after October 12, 1984, through September 2, 1986. The third version of the statute applies to offenses committed on or after September 3, 1986. The fourth version is substantially the same as the third and comprises the third version as amended by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), Pub.L. 101-73, signed into law August 9, 1989, and The Comprehensive Thrift and Bank Fraud Prosecution and Taxpayer Recovery Act of 1990, enacted November 29, 1990, as Title XXV of the Crime Control Act (CCA) of 1990. When passed as part of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, the bank bribery statute (second version) made it a crime for anyone "in connection with bank business" to offer or give to a bank official or to any third party (or for the bank official to solicit or receive for himself or a third party) "anything of value" other than what is given or offered to the bank itself. In 18 U.S.C. § 215 the term "bank" is used generically to cover all Federally regulated financial institutions protected under the statute. Also the terms "employee" or "officer" are meant to cover all individuals affiliated with the protected institutions as recognized by the statute. With the 1986 amendment, the statute (third version) provided that the thing of value must be either offered or received "corruptly" with the intent to "influence or reward" a bank employee in connection with bank business. This is also true in the fourth version of the statute. For further discussion of the prior versions of the bank bribery statute, see FIF Manual at 187-201. [cited in USAM 9-40.000]