Texas Penal Code 32.43 – Commercial Bribery
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Beneficiary” means a person for whom a fiduciary is acting.
(2) “Fiduciary” means:
(A) an agent or employee;
(B) a trustee, guardian, custodian, administrator, executor, conservator, receiver, or similar fiduciary;
(C) a lawyer, physician, accountant, appraiser, or other professional advisor; or
(D) an officer, director, partner, manager, or other participant in the direction of the affairs of a corporation or association.
(b) A person who is a fiduciary commits an offense if, without the consent of his beneficiary, he intentionally or knowingly solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit from another person on agreement or understanding that the benefit will influence the conduct of the fiduciary in relation to the affairs of his beneficiary.
Terms Used In Texas Penal Code 32.43
- Another: means a person other than the actor. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Association: means a government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, partnership, or two or more persons having a joint or common economic interest. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- 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
- Benefit: means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain or advantage, including benefit to any other person in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying mental state. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Consent: means assent in fact, whether express or apparent. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: includes nonprofit corporations, professional associations created pursuant to statute, and joint stock companies. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Felony: means an offense so designated by law or punishable by death or confinement in a penitentiary. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Individual: means a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Person: means an individual or a corporation, association, limited liability company, or other entity or organization governed by the Business Organizations Code. See Texas Penal Code 1.07
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(c) A person commits an offense if he offers, confers, or agrees to confer any benefit the acceptance of which is an offense under Subsection (b).
(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(e) In lieu of a fine that is authorized by Subsection (d), and in addition to the imprisonment that is authorized by that subsection, if the court finds that an individual who is a fiduciary gained a benefit through the commission of an offense under Subsection (b), the court may sentence the individual to pay a fine in an amount fixed by the court, not to exceed double the value of the benefit gained. This subsection does not affect the application of § 12.51(c) to an offense under this section committed by a corporation, an association, a limited liability company, or another business entity, as defined by § 7.21.