18 U.S.C. § 510
Section 510 · Forging endorsements on Treasury checks or bonds or securities of the United States
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 201 court decisions — leading case United States v. Holzman (1989)
Most recently applied in United States v. Thomas O'Lear (January 2024)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 1708 · 18 U.S.C. § 3553 · 18 U.S.C. § 495
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Whoever, with intent to defraud—
(1) falsely makes or forges any endorsement or signature on a Treasury check or bond or security of the United States; or
(2) passes, utters, or publishes, or attempts to pass, utter, or publish, any Treasury check or bond or security of the United States bearing a falsely made or forged endorsement or signature;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b) Whoever, with knowledge that such Treasury check or bond or security of the United States is stolen or bears a falsely made or forged endorsement or signature buys, sells, exchanges, receives, delivers, retains, or conceals any such Treasury check or bond or security of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(c) If the face value of the Treasury check or bond or security of the United States or the aggregate face value, if more than one Treasury check or bond or security of the United States, does not exceed $1,000, in any of the above-mentioned offenses, the penalty shall be a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “fine under this title” for “fine of under this title”.
1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–294, §602(e), struck out “that in fact is stolen or bears a forged or falsely made endorsement or signature” after “bond or security of the United States”.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–294, §606(b), substituted “$1,000” for “$500”.
1994—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 103–322, §330016(1)(L), substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $10,000”.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–322, §330016(1)(H), substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”.
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–647 inserted semicolon after “or signature” in par. (2) and moved provisions beginning with “shall be fined” flush with left margin.