42 U.S.C. § 1011 — Penalties for fraud

(a) In general. A person^* commits an offense if the person:

(1) knowingly and willfully makes, or causes someone to make, a false statement or representation of an important fact in an application for benefits under this subchapter;

(2) knowingly and willfully makes, or causes someone to make, such a false statement or representation at any time for use in deciding a right to benefits;

(3) knows about an event affecting (A) the person’s initial or continuing right to benefits, or (B) another person’s initial or continuing right to benefits when the person applied for or receives the benefit for that other person, and hides or fails to report the event intending fraudulently to obtain a benefit that is too large or is not authorized;

(4) applied for and received a benefit for another person’s use and benefit, then knowingly and willfully uses all or part of it for another purpose; or

(5) conspires to commit an offense in paragraph (1), (2), or (3).

The person may be fined under title 18, imprisoned for up to 5 years, or both. But a person who receives a fee or other income for services connected with deciding benefits under this subchapter—including a claimant representative, translator, or current or former Social Security Administration^* employee—or a physician^* or other health-care provider who submits or causes medical or other evidence to be submitted for such a decision, commits a felony and may, on conviction, be fined under title 18, imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both.

(b) Court order for restitution. (1) A Federal court sentencing a defendant convicted under subsection (a) may, in addition to or instead of another lawful penalty, order restitution to the Commissioner of Social Security when the offense caused (A) the Commissioner to make a benefit payment that should not have been made, or (B) an individual to suffer financial loss because the defendant violated subsection (a) while acting as that individual’s representative payee appointed under section 1007(i) of this title.

(2) Sections 3612, 3663, and 3664 of title 18 apply to issuing and enforcing restitution orders under this subsection. For those sections, the Commissioner is considered the victim.

(3) If the court does not order restitution, or orders only part of it, the court must state^* the reasons on the record.

(4)(A) Unless subparagraph (B) applies, restitution paid to the Commissioner must be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury’s general fund. (B) For money paid because of paragraph (1)(B), the Commissioner must certify payment to the individual described there in the lesser of the amount paid or the individual’s unpaid financial loss. That amount may be reduced by benefits overpaid and owed by the individual under this subchapter, subchapter II, or subchapter XVI.