18 U.S.C. § 1517 — Obstructing examination of financial in-

Page 400 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1516 personally or by influencing another, including making a false or misleading statement, or withholding, concealing, altering, or destroying a document or other information. (c) This chapter does not prohibit or punish the providing of lawful, bona fide, legal rep- resentation services in connection with or an- ticipation of an official proceeding. (Added Pub. L. 97–291, § 4(a), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1252; amended Pub. L. 99–646, § 50(b), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3605; Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7029(b), (d), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4398; Pub. L. 101–650, title III, § 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117; Pub. L. 102–572, title IX, § 902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4516; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXII, § 320604(a), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2118; Pub. L. 104–292, § 3, Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3460; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(b)(39), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3509.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out ‘‘or’’ after semicolon at end. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 104–292 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c). 1994—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 103–322 added subpar. (D). 1992—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted ‘‘United States Court of Federal Claims’’ for ‘‘United States Claims Court’’. 1988—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 100–690, § 7029(b), in- serted ‘‘a judge of the United States Tax Court, a spe- cial trial judge of the Tax Court, a judge of the United States Claims Court,’’ after ‘‘bankruptcy judge,’’. Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 100–690, § 7029(d), added par. (6). 1986—Pub. L. 99–646 inserted ‘‘; general provision’’ in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), and added subsec. (b). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME ‘‘United States magistrate judge’’ substituted for ‘‘United States magistrate’’ in subsec. (a)(1)(A) pursu- ant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 12, 1982, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 97–291, set out as a note under section 1512 of this title. § 1516. Obstruction of Federal audit (a) Whoever, with intent to deceive or defraud the United States, endeavors to influence, ob- struct, or impede a Federal auditor in the per- formance of official duties relating to a person, entity, or program receiving in excess of $100,000, directly or indirectly, from the United States in any 1 year period under a contract or subcontract, grant, or cooperative agreement, or relating to any property that is security for a mortgage note that is insured, guaranteed, ac- quired, or held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to any Act admin- istered by the Secretary, or relating to any property that is security for a loan that is made or guaranteed under title V of the Housing Act of 1949, shall be fined under this title, or impris- oned not more than 5 years, or both. (b) For purposes of this section— (1) the term ‘‘Federal auditor’’ means any person employed on a full- or part-time or con- tractual basis to perform an audit or a quality assurance inspection for or on behalf of the United States; and (2) the term ‘‘in any 1 year period’’ has the meaning given to the term ‘‘in any one-year period’’ in section 666. (Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7078(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4406; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXII, § 320609, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2120; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 604(b)(43), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3509; Pub. L. 105–65, title V, § 564, Oct. 27, 1997, 111 Stat. 1420; Pub. L. 106–569, title VII, § 709(b), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 3018; Pub. L. 107–273, div. A, title II, § 205(c), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1778.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Housing Act of 1949, referred to in subsec. (a), is act July 15, 1949, ch. 338, 63 Stat. 413. Title V of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 1471 et seq.) of chapter 8A of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1441 of Title 42 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–273 inserted ‘‘, entity, or program’’ after ‘‘person’’ and ‘‘grant, or cooperative agreement,’’ after ‘‘subcontract,’’. 2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–569 inserted ‘‘or relating to any property that is security for a loan that is made or guaranteed under title V of the Housing Act of 1949,’’ before ‘‘shall be fined under this title’’. 1997—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–65 inserted ‘‘or relating to any property that is security for a mortgage note that is insured, guaranteed, acquired, or held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to any Act administered by the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘under a contract or subcontract,’’. 1996—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104–294 inserted ‘‘and’’ after semicolon at end. 1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted ‘‘sec- tion—’’ for ‘‘section’’, inserted ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘the term’’, substituted semicolon for the period at end, and added par. (2). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–294 effective Sept. 13, 1994, see section 604(d) of Pub. L. 104–294, set out as a note under section 13 of this title. § 1517. Obstructing examination of financial in- stitution Whoever corruptly obstructs or attempts to obstruct any examination of a financial institu- tion by an agency of the United States with ju- risdiction to conduct an examination of such fi- Page 401 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 1531 nancial institution shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. (Added Pub. L. 101–647, title XXV, § 2503(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4861.) § 1518. Obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses (a) Whoever willfully prevents, obstructs, mis- leads, delays or attempts to prevent, obstruct, mislead, or delay the communication of infor- mation or records relating to a violation of a Federal health care offense to a criminal inves- tigator shall be fined under this title or impris- oned not more than 5 years, or both. (b) As used in this section the term ‘‘criminal investigator’’ means any individual duly author- ized by a department, agency, or armed force of the United States to conduct or engage in inves- tigations for prosecutions for violations of health care offenses. (Added Pub. L. 104–191, title II, § 245(a), Aug. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 2017.) § 1519. Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bank- ruptcy Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, muti- lates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper adminis- tration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. (Added Pub. L. 107–204, title VIII, § 802(a), July 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 800.) § 1520. Destruction of corporate audit records (a)(1) Any accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities to which section 10A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78j–1(a)) applies, shall maintain all audit or re- view workpapers for a period of 5 years from the end of the fiscal period in which the audit or re- view was concluded. (2) The Securities and Exchange Commission shall promulgate, within 180 days, after ade- quate notice and an opportunity for comment, such rules and regulations, as are reasonably necessary, relating to the retention of relevant records such as workpapers, documents that form the basis of an audit or review, memo- randa, correspondence, communications, other documents, and records (including electronic records) which are created, sent, or received in connection with an audit or review and contain conclusions, opinions, analyses, or financial data relating to such an audit or review, which is conducted by any accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities to which section 10A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78j–1(a)) applies. The Commission may, from time to time, amend or supplement the rules and regulations that it is required to pro- mulgate under this section, after adequate no- tice and an opportunity for comment, in order to ensure that such rules and regulations ade- quately comport with the purposes of this sec- tion. (b) Whoever knowingly and willfully violates subsection (a)(1), or any rule or regulation pro- mulgated by the Securities and Exchange Com- mission under subsection (a)(2), shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. (c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish or relieve any person of any other duty or obligation imposed by Federal or State law or regulation to maintain, or refrain from destroy- ing, any document. (Added Pub. L. 107–204, title VIII, § 802(a), July 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 800.) § 1521. Retaliating against a Federal judge or Federal law enforcement officer by false claim or slander of title Whoever files, attempts to file, or conspires to file, in any public record or in any private record which is generally available to the pub- lic, any false lien or encumbrance against the real or personal property of an individual de- scribed in section 1114, on account of the per- formance of official duties by that individual, knowing or having reason to know that such lien or encumbrance is false or contains any ma- terially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. (Added Pub. L. 110–177, title II, § 201(a), Jan. 7, 2008, 121 Stat. 2535.) CHAPTER 74—PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS Sec. 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited. § 1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited (a) Any physician who, in or affecting inter- state or foreign commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. This subsection does not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, in- cluding a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. This subsection takes effect 1 day after the en- actment. (b) As used in this section— (1) the term ‘‘partial-birth abortion’’ means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion— (A) deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is out- side the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and (B) performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the par- tially delivered living fetus; and