A person commits an offense if they fraudulently or falsely obtain, retain, influence, obstruct, or use money tied to minority or women’s business enterprise certification; penalties include a fine, imprisonment, or both.
NOTE: This provision of law was included in the Unconstitutional Statutes Biennial Report to the Legislature, dated March 14, 2016. §1993. Deception relating to certification of minority business enterprise or women's business enterprise A. A person shall be guilty of the crime of deception relating to certification of minority business enterprise or women's business enterprise if he: (1) Fraudulently obtains or retains certification as a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise. (2) Willfully makes a false statement, whether by affidavit, report, or other representation, to an official or employee of a public body for the purpose of influencing the certification or denial of certification of any business entity as a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise. (3) Willfully obstructs or impedes any agency, official, or employee who is investigating the qualifications of a business entity which has requested certification as a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise. (4) Fraudulently obtains public money reserved for, allocated to, or available to minority business enterprises or women's business enterprises. B. Any person who commits deception relating to certification of a minority business enterprise or a women's business enterprise shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not more than two years, or both. As a condition for suspension of imprisonment, the court may require payment of restitution in an amount equal to all or part of the amount of public money which was obtained in violation of this Section. Such restitution shall be made to the same entity or entities from which the public money was obtained. Acts 1992, No. 797, §2, eff. July 1, 1992. {{NOTE: SEE STUDY AND REPORT REQUIRED BY ACTS 1992, NO. 797, §4.}}