§1596. Penalties
(a) Any person who knowingly, or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts, violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall pay a fine of not more than $1,000, for the first offense, and upon conviction for each subsequent offense not more than $2,000.
(b) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or the rules and regulations made and promulgated thereunder shall forfeit to the United States a sum, not less than $25 or more than $500, for each such violation, which forfeiture shall be recoverable in a civil suit brought in the name of the United States.
( Aug. 9, 1939, ch. 615 , title IV, § 406, 53 Stat. 1286 ; July 9, 1956, ch. 520, § 1 , 70 Stat. 508 .)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1956—Act July 9, 1956, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted “knowingly or as a result either of gross negligence or of a failure to make a reasonable effort to inform himself of the pertinent facts,” and added subsec. (b).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1956 Amendment
Act July 9, 1956, ch. 520, § 4, 70 Stat. 508, provided that:
“The amendments made by this Act [amending sections 1574, 1596, and 1602 of this title] shall be applicable only with respect to violations occurring after the enactment of this Act [July 9, 1956].”
Effective Date
See section 1610 of this title.