25540-25542
CORPORATIONS CODE
SECTION 25540-25542
25540. (a) Except as provided for in subdivision (b), any person who willfully violates any provision of this division, or who willfully violates any rule or order under this division, shall upon conviction be fined not more than one million dollars ($1,000,000), or imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment; but no person may be imprisoned for the violation of any rule or order if he or she proves that he or she had no knowledge of the rule or order. (b) Any person who willfully violates Section 25400, 25401, or 25402, or who willfully violates any rule or order under this division adopted pursuant to those provisions, shall upon conviction be fined not more than ten million dollars ($10,000,000), or imprisoned in the state prison for two, three, or five years, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment. (c) Any issuer, as defined in Section 2 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-204), who willfully violates Section 25400, 25401, or 25402, or who willfully violates any rule or order under this division adopted pursuant to those provisions, shall upon conviction be fined not more than twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), or imprisoned in the state prison for two, three, or five years, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment. 25541. (a) Any person who willfully employs, directly or indirectly, any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of any security or willfully engages, directly or indirectly, in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of any security shall upon conviction be fined not more than ten million dollars ($10,000,000), or imprisoned in the state prison for two, three, or five years, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) Any issuer, as defined in Section 2 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-204), who willfully violates subdivision (a) shall upon conviction be fined not more than twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), or imprisoned in the state prison for two, three, or five years, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment. 25542. Nothing in this law limits the power of the state to punish any person for any conduct which constitutes a crime under any other statute.