Defrauding the government · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 195.20 Defrauding the government.
A person is guilty of defrauding the government when, being a public servant or party officer, he or she:
(a) engages in a scheme constituting a systematic ongoing course of conduct with intent to:
(i) defraud the state or a political subdivision of the state or a governmental instrumentality within the state or to obtain property, services or other resources from the state or a political subdivision of the state or a governmental instrumentality within the state by false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises; or
(ii) defraud the state or a political subdivision of the state or a governmental instrumentality within the state by making use of property, services or resources of the state, political subdivision of the state or a governmental instrumentality within the state for private business purposes or other compensated non-governmental purposes; and
(b) so obtains property, services or other resources with a value in excess of one thousand dollars from such state, political subdivision or governmental instrumentality.
Defrauding the government is a class E felony.
A public servant or party officer defrauds the government by:
The offense is a class E felony.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.