18 U.S.C. § 285
Section 285 · Taking or using papers relating to claims
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case United States v. United States Cartridge Co. (1952)
Most recently applied in Woods v. McGuire (January 1992)
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.
Whoever, without authority, takes and carries away from the place where it was filed, deposited, or kept by authority of the United States, any certificate, affidavit, deposition, statement of facts, power of attorney, receipt, voucher, assignment, or other document, record, file, or paper prepared, fitted, or intended to be used or presented to procure the payment of money from or by the United States or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, or the allowance or payment of the whole or any part of any claim, account, or demand against the United States, whether the same has or has not already been so used or presented, and whether such claim, account, or demand, or any part thereof has or has not already been allowed or paid; or
Whoever presents, uses, or attempts to use any such document, record, file, or paper so taken and carried away, to procure the payment of any money from or by the United States, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, or the allowance or payment of the whole or any part of any claim, account, or demand against the United States—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §92 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §40, 35 Stat. 1096).
Word “employee” was inserted after “officer” in two places to clarify scope of section.
The words “five years” were substituted for “ten years” in the punishment provision to conform to like provisions in similar offenses. (See section 1001 of this title.)
Changes were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”.
Cross References
Claims generally, see section 3721 et seq. of Title 31, Money and Finance.