7 U.S.C. § 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 must be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction of it, must 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 must forfeit to the United States^* a sum, not less than $25 or more than $500, for each such violation, which forfeiture must be recoverable in a civil suit brought in the name of the United States.