The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 43 authored by Sen. Young regarding fraud consolidation. The bill repeals and consolidates various fraud, deception, and mischief offenses. The bill specifically defines “financial institution” for purposes of crimes involving financial institutions, defines “item of sentimental value” and enhances the penalties for mischief, theft, and fraud if the offense involves an item of sentimental value. (The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the interim study committee on corrections and criminal code.)
The bill was amended three times by consent:
- Amendment #6 – clarified “false and misleading statement” regarding Medicaid fraud;
- Amendment #7 – reintroduced separate crimes for forgery and counterfeiting and addressed pecuniary loss regarding insurance fraud;
- Amendment #8 – clarified that if fraud was committed on, or by means of a written instrument, and the pecuniary loss was less than seven hundred $750, the crime is only a Class A misdemeanor as opposed to a Level 6 felony.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office and the Indiana Public Defender Council testified in support of the bill. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council testified but remained neutral. The amended bill passed 5-1.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/43.