Louisiana § RS 14:201 - Collateral securities, unauthorized use or withdrawal prohibited; penalty; proof of intent; of personal advantage

§ RS 14:201. Collateral securities, unauthorized use or withdrawal prohibited; penalty; proof of intent; of personal advantage

A.  No customer, nor any officer, member, or employee of any person who is a customer of any bank or banking institution, savings bank, or trust company organized under the laws of this state, of the United States, or of any foreign country, or of a private banker or of a person, or association that loans money on collateral security, doing business in this state, who is allowed to withdraw any collateral pledged by him, either personally or in his representative capacity, on a trust receipt or other form of receipt, shall do any of the following:

(1)  Use, sell, repledge, or otherwise dispose of the collateral so withdrawn, for any other purpose other than that of paying the indebtedness for the security of which the collateral was pledged.

(2)  Fail or refuse to return the collateral on demand.

(3)  Fail or refuse in lieu of the return of the collateral to make the pledgee a cash payment equivalent to the full value of the collateral so withdrawn.

(4)  If the collateral exceeds in value the indebtedness it secures, fail or refuse to make a cash payment to the pledgee equal to the full amount of the indebtedness.

(5)  If the delivery of the collateral was to be made in the future and the customer has taken possession or control of the collateral, fails or refuses to deliver the collateral on demand.

B.  Whoever violates this Section shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor, for not more than ten years.

C.  Proof of any of the acts set forth in this Section shall be considered prima facie evidence of criminal intent.  The state may proceed further and prove criminal intent by any competent evidence in its possession.

D.  Where the person doing the acts denounced by this Section was an officer, agent, or employee of any person, who was a customer of any lender as provided in Subsection A of this Section loaning money on collateral security, it shall not be necessary, to complete the proof of the crime charged, for the state to prove that the person derived any personal benefit, advantage, or profit from the transaction.  The state may always prove the crime charged by any competent evidence it may have in its possession.

Amended by Acts 1952, No. 82, §1; Acts 1980, No. 439, §1; Acts 2014, No. 791, §7.