2019 Indiana Code
Title 35. Criminal Law and Procedure
Article 43. Offenses Against Property
Chapter 5. Forgery, Fraud, and Other Deceptions
35-43-5-3. Deception
Sec. 3. (a) A person who:
(1) being an officer, manager, or other person participating in the direction of a credit institution, knowingly or intentionally receives or permits the receipt of a deposit or other investment, knowing that the institution is insolvent;
(2) knowingly or intentionally makes a false or misleading written statement with intent to obtain property, employment, or an educational opportunity;
(3) misapplies entrusted property, property of a governmental entity, or property of a credit institution in a manner that the person knows is unlawful or that the person knows involves substantial risk of loss or detriment to either the owner of the property or to a person for whose benefit the property was entrusted;
(4) knowingly or intentionally, in the regular course of business, either:
(A) uses or possesses for use a false weight or measure or other device for falsely determining or recording the quality or quantity of any commodity; or
(B) sells, offers, or displays for sale or delivers less than the represented quality or quantity of any commodity;
(5) with intent to defraud another person furnishing electricity, gas, water, telecommunication, or any other utility service, avoids a lawful charge for that service by scheme or device or by tampering with facilities or equipment of the person furnishing the service;
(6) with intent to defraud, misrepresents the identity of the person or another person or the identity or quality of property;
(7) with intent to defraud an owner of a coin machine, deposits a slug in that machine;
(8) with intent to enable the person or another person to deposit a slug in a coin machine, makes, possesses, or disposes of a slug;
(9) disseminates to the public an advertisement that the person knows is false, misleading, or deceptive, with intent to promote the purchase or sale of property or the acceptance of employment;
(10) with intent to defraud, misrepresents a person as being a physician licensed under IC 25-22.5;
(11) knowingly and intentionally defrauds another person furnishing cable TV service by avoiding paying compensation for that service by any scheme or device or by tampering with facilities or equipment of the person furnishing the service; or
(12) knowingly or intentionally provides false information to a governmental entity to obtain a contract from the governmental entity;
commits deception, a Class A misdemeanor, except as provided in subsection (b).
(b) An offense under:
(1) subsection (a)(12) is a Level 6 felony if the provision of false information results in financial loss to the governmental entity; and
(2) subsection (a)(6) is a Level 6 felony if the misrepresentation relates to:
(A) a medical procedure, medical device, or drug; and
(B) human reproductive material (as defined in IC 34-24-5-1.
(c) In determining whether an advertisement is false, misleading, or deceptive under subsection (a)(9), there shall be considered, among other things, not only representations contained or suggested in the advertisement, by whatever means, including device or sound, but also the extent to which the advertisement fails to reveal material facts in the light of the representations.
(d) A person who knowingly or intentionally falsely represents:
(1) any entity as:
(A) a disadvantaged business enterprise (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-1); or
(B) a women-owned business enterprise (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-3);
in order to qualify for certification as such an enterprise under a program conducted by a public agency (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-2) designed to assist disadvantaged business enterprises or women-owned business enterprises in obtaining contracts with public agencies for the provision of goods and services; or
(2) an entity with which the person will subcontract all or part of a contract with a public agency (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-2) as:
(A) a disadvantaged business enterprise (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-1); or
(B) a women-owned business enterprise (as defined in IC 5-16-6.5-3);
in order to qualify for certification as an eligible bidder under a program that is conducted by a public agency designed to assist disadvantaged business enterprises or women-owned business enterprises in obtaining contracts with public agencies for the provision of goods and services;
commits a Level 6 felony.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.3. Amended by Acts 1977, P.L.340, SEC.51; Acts 1978, P.L.144, SEC.5; P.L.182-1984, SEC.4; P.L.237-1989, SEC.2; P.L.247-1993, SEC.2; P.L.222-1996, SEC.1; P.L.158-2013, SEC.470; P.L.85-2017, SEC.112; P.L.215-2019, SEC.3.
