Legal Definitions - National Stolen Property Act

National Stolen Property Act (NSPA)

The National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) is a federal law that makes it a crime to move, send, or transfer certain unlawfully obtained items or money across state lines or into another country. Specifically, it applies when:

• A person transports, transmits, or transfers goods or money.
• The value of these goods or money is $5,000 or more.
• The person knows that the goods or money were obtained illegally (e.g., through theft, fraud, or embezzlement).
• The movement occurs in interstate commerce (between U.S. states) or foreign commerce (between the U.S. and another country).

This act aims to prevent criminals from profiting by moving stolen or illegally acquired assets across jurisdictional boundaries to evade law enforcement.

Here are some examples of how the National Stolen Property Act might apply:

• Example 1: Stolen Artwork Transport

  A thief steals a rare painting valued at $15,000 from an art gallery in Boston, Massachusetts. Knowing the painting is stolen, the thief then drives it across state lines to sell it to a collector in New York. This act of transporting the stolen painting, valued over $5,000, from Massachusetts to New York with knowledge of its illicit origin, would fall under the NSPA.

• Example 2: Embezzled Funds Transfer

  An executive embezzles $75,000 from their company's bank account in California. To hide the funds and make them harder to trace, they electronically transfer the entire sum to a personal bank account they opened in the Cayman Islands. Because the executive knowingly transmitted unlawfully obtained money (over $5,000) in foreign commerce, their actions could be prosecuted under the NSPA.

• Example 3: Counterfeit Goods Shipment

  A criminal organization manufactures $20,000 worth of counterfeit designer handbags in a workshop in Miami, Florida. They then arrange for these fake goods to be shipped via a freight carrier to a distributor in Atlanta, Georgia, knowing full well they are illegal counterfeits. The act of transporting these unlawfully produced goods, exceeding the $5,000 threshold, across state lines constitutes a violation of the NSPA.