# Plain Language Summary: Foreign Extortion Prevention Act

This bill creates a new federal crime specifically targeting foreign government officials who demand bribes from American businesses and individuals. Right now, U.S. law focuses on punishing Americans and foreign companies that pay bribes to foreign officials, but this bill flips the script to directly criminalize when a foreign official shakes down an American company for money or valuable goods. For example, if a foreign customs official demands a payment from an American company in exchange for allowing their shipment through the border, that official would now be breaking U.S. law—even if they're acting in their home country.

The penalties are serious: anyone convicted can face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 or three times the value of whatever was demanded, whichever is larger. The law applies to any foreign government official, including employees of foreign agencies and international organizations like the United Nations. Importantly, the U.S. can prosecute these crimes even when they happen entirely outside American borders, giving federal prosecutors broad reach to go after foreign officials who target American businesses.

The bill also creates a "Victims of Kleptocracy Fund" that collects all fines and penalties from these prosecutions. This money gets redirected to programs that help train law enforcement in other countries, recover stolen assets, and speed up the process of getting evidence from foreign governments for investigations. Additionally, the Attorney General must publish annual reports tracking how many foreign bribery cases are being prosecuted, how effective enforcement efforts are, and what resources the Justice Department needs to do this work better.

Foreign Extortion Prevention Act

Jackson Lee, Sheila

Foreign Extortion Prevention Act This bill establishes a federal criminal offense involving bribery by foreign officials. Specifically, the bill makes it a crime for foreign officials to demand or accept anything of value personally or for another person or a nongovernmental entity to influence the performance of an official act or otherwise confer an improper advantage. The bill explicitly grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over the offense. A violation is subject to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to 15 years, or both. Finally, the bill establishes a Victims of Kleptocracy Fund in the Treasury and directs fines and penalties for violations to be deposited into the fund for anti-corruption initiatives.