Arizona Laws 38-912. Civil liability; restitution or payment of fine; forfeiture of benefits; violation; classification; offset of benefits
A. A person who defrauds the plan or who takes, converts, steals or embezzles monies owned by or from the plan and who fails or refuses to return the monies to the plan on the board‘s written request is subject to civil suit by the plan in the superior court in Maricopa county. On entry of an order finding the person has defrauded the plan or taken, converted, stolen or embezzled monies owned by or from the plan, the court shall enter an order against that person and for the plan awarding the plan all of its costs and expenses of any kind, including attorney fees, that were necessary to successfully prosecute the action. The court shall also grant the plan a judicial lien on all of the nonexempt property of the person against whom judgment is entered pursuant to this subsection in an amount equal to all amounts awarded to the plan, plus interest at the rate prescribed by section 44-1201, until all amounts owed are paid to the plan.
Attorney's Note
Under the Arizona Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 5 felony | up to 2 years | up to $150,000 |
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-912
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Actuarial equivalent: means equality in present value of the aggregate amounts expected to be received under two different forms of payment, based on mortality and interest assumptions adopted by the board. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Beneficiary: means an individual who is being paid or who has entitlement to the future payment of a pension on account of a reason other than the individual's membership in the retirement plan. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Board: means the board of trustees of the public safety personnel retirement system. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. Source: OCC
- Employer: means an agency or department of this state or a political subdivision of this state that has one or more employees in a designated position. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Local board: means the retirement board of the employer that consists of persons appointed or elected to administer the plan as it applies to the employer's members in the plan. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- plan: means the corrections officer retirement plan established by this article. See Arizona Laws 38-881
- Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
B. If a member is convicted of, or discharged because of, theft, embezzlement, fraud or misappropriation of an employer‘s property or property under the control of the employer, the member is subject to restitution and fines imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction. The court may order the restitution or fines to be paid from any payments otherwise payable to the member from the plan.
C. A person who knowingly makes any false statement or who falsifies or permits to be falsified any record of the plan with an intent to defraud the plan is guilty of a class 5 felony. If any change or error in the records results in any member or beneficiary receiving from the plan more or less than the member or beneficiary would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the local board shall correct the error, and as far as practicable shall adjust the payments in a manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefit to which the member or beneficiary was correctly entitled shall be paid. If a member is convicted of a crime pursuant to this subsection, section 13-713 applies.
D. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the board may offset against any benefits otherwise payable by the plan to a member or survivor any court ordered amounts awarded to the board and plan and assessed against the member or survivor.