§ 44A-24. False statement a misdemeanor. - North Carolina Statutes

Part 3.Criminal Sanctions for Furnishing a False Statement in Connection withImprovement to Real Property.

§ 44A‑24.  Falsestatement a misdemeanor.

If any contractor or otherperson receiving payment from an obligor for an improvement to real property orfrom a purchaser for a conveyance of real property with improvements shallknowingly furnish to such obligor, purchaser, or to a lender who obtains asecurity interest in said real property, or to a title insurance companyinsuring title to such real property, a false written statement of the sums dueor claimed to be due for labor or material furnished at the site ofimprovements to such real property, then such contractor, subcontractor orother person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.  Upon conviction and inthe event the court shall grant any defendant a suspended sentence, the courtmay in its discretion include as a condition of such suspension a provisionthat the defendant shall reimburse the party who suffered loss on suchconditions as the court shall determine are proper.

The elements of the offenseherein stated are the furnishing of the false written statement with knowledgethat it is false and the subsequent or simultaneous receipt of payment from anobligor or purchaser, and in any prosecution hereunder it shall not benecessary for the State to prove that the obligor, purchaser, lender or titleinsurance company relied upon the false statement or that any person wasinjured thereby. (1971, c. 880, s. 1.1; 1973, c. 991; 1993, c. 539, s.406; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)