美国申请信用卡虚报收入的法律风险和后果

有读者问道：「我想提升信用额度，然后我就打客服电话谎报了年收入，事后有点后悔，这样会不会有什么麻烦？」这种做法看上去不是什么大事，可能很多人做过，大部分情况下没什么后果，但从法律上来说可以很严重。

纽约居民 David P. Gaylord 就做过这事。2006 年，他向国税局申报的收入只有 $12,488，但他在向 Advanta、Bank of America 和 Family First Federal Credit Union 申请信用卡时，却说自己的收入在 $90,000 至 $122,200 之间，最后欠了很多钱还不上、申请破产。2012 年，他被判「time served」（即宣判前已经被羁押的日子）、加 5 年监视释放（supervised release）、加偿还 $46,914.73 损失。参见 FBI 官网介绍。

此类起诉和宣判的法律依据是 18 U.S. Code § 1014^[资料]，摘录如下：

Whoever knowingly makes any false statement or report, or willfully overvalues any land, property or security, for the purpose of influencing in any way the action of the Federal Housing Administration, the Farm Credit Administration, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation or a company the Corporation reinsures, the Secretary of Agriculture acting through the Farmers Home Administration or successor agency, the Rural Development Administration or successor agency, any Farm Credit Bank, production credit association, agricultural credit association, bank for cooperatives, or any division, officer, or employee thereof, or of any regional agricultural credit corporation established pursuant to law, or a Federal land bank, a Federal land bank association, a Federal Reserve bank, a small business investment company, as defined in section 103 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 662), or the Small Business Administration in connection with any provision of that Act, a Federal credit union, an insured State-chartered credit union, any institution the accounts of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,[1] any Federal home loan bank, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, or the National Credit Union Administration Board, a branch or agency of a foreign bank (as such terms are defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 1(b) of the International Banking Act of 1978), an organization operating under section 25 or section 25(a) [2] of the Federal Reserve Act, or a mortgage lending business, or any person or entity that makes in whole or in part a federally related mortgage loan as defined in section 3 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, upon any application, advance, discount, purchase, purchase agreement, repurchase agreement, commitment, loan, or insurance agreement or application for insurance or a guarantee, or any change or extension of any of the same, by renewal, deferment of action or otherwise, or the acceptance, release, or substitution of security therefor, shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.

在任何申请过程中，向上面所列的一大堆机构虚报收入，最高可罚款 100 万美元、加判刑 30 年。美国绝大部分银行、信用卡公司都和文中这些联邦机构有千丝万缕的联系，比如说很多银行都由 FDIC 投保，而法案适用对象就包括「any institution the accounts of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation」。

当然，银行和信用卡公司很少会起诉谎报收入的客户，FBI 也很忙，但从法律上来说，在申请信用卡（和贷款）的过程中谎报收入可以是很严重的事情，如果你因为其他事情引起检察机关注意，他们会用各种罪名来对付你，包括信用和银行欺诈。这跟带食物入关不申报一样，很多人以为无伤大雅，很多人可能做过，但是我建议你不要做。

《带食物回美国入境要向海关申报吗？》

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Derek Yang

生于湖南，求学于北京，先后在广东、北京、DC 工作。一代移民，生活在美东小镇。

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