There is no federal statute that by its terms expressly prohibits commercial bribery generally though it is mentioned as part of the definition of aggravated felony for the purposes of US immigration law and is prohibited to induce sales of alcoholic beverages through commercial bribery. 23 It is usually punishable as a felony under state law, depending on circumstances, but only 36 states have laws specifically prohibiting commercial bribery. Among them are California,4 Delaware,5 Massachusetts,6 New Jersey,7 New York, Texas,8 and Washington.9 However, the federal mail and wire fraud statutes 10 can be used to prosecute commercial bribery as a "scheme or artifice to defraud" if the mail or interstate wire facilities are used. In addition, use of the mails or interstate travel or communication in furtherance of a violation of state commercial bribery laws may be prosecutable in Federal court under the Travel Act.11 As the penalties under the federal statutes may exceed the state penalties, and the federal investigative and enforcement agencies may have superior resources, often federal prosecution is favored.
New York's law against commercial bribery is contained in Article 180 of the state's penal code.12 It is one of the most extensive state laws against commercial bribery in the United States, and includes prohibitions against bribing labor officials, fixing sports contests, and rent gouging.
Black's Law Dictionary 7th. ed. 1999, p. 187 /wiki/Black%27s_Law_Dictionary ↩
"Federal Alcohol Administration Act provision 27 U.S. Code § 205". https://www.ttb.gov/trade_practices/commercial_bribery.shtml ↩
8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) /wiki/Title_8_of_the_United_States_Code ↩
"California Penal Code - PEN § 641.3 - FindLaw". Findlaw. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/15/2/s641.3 ↩
"DEL CODE § 881 : Delaware Code - Section 881: BRIBERY; CLASS A MISDEMEANOR". Findlaw. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/decode/11/5/III/881 ↩
"General Laws". malegislature.gov. http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter271/Section39 ↩
New Jersey General Assembly. "N.J.S.A. 2C:21-10". Statutes of New Jersey. New Jersey. /wiki/New_Jersey_General_Assembly ↩
"TEX PE. CODE ANN. § 32.43 : Texas Statutes - Section 32.43: COMMERCIAL BRIBERY". Findlaw. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PE/7/32/D/32.43 ↩
"Revised Code of Washington (RCW). § 9A.68". https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.68.060 ↩
18 U.S.C. § 1341 and 18 U.S.C. § 1343 /wiki/Title_18_of_the_United_States_Code ↩
Emmick, Mike (2012-02-01). "The Travel Act – The FCPA's red-haired stepchild". Thomson Reuters News and Insight. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120209010519/http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/Insight/2012/02_-_February/The_Travel_Act_%E2%80%93_The_FCPA_s_red-haired_stepchild/ ↩
"NY Code - Article 180: BRIBERY NOT INVOLVING PUBLIC SERVANTS, AND RELATED OFFENSES". Findlaw. http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/PEN/THREE/K/180 ↩