Illinois Criminal Code of 1961

Sec. 17-12. Fraudulent advertisement of corporate name.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-12)

If a company, association, or person puts forth a sign or advertisement and assumes, for the purpose of soliciting business, a corporate name, not being incorporated, the company, association, or person commits a petty offense and is guilty of an additional petty offense for each day he, she, or it continues to so offend.

Nothing contained in this Section prohibits a corporation, company, association, or person from using a divisional designation or trade name in conjunction with its corporate name or assumed name under Section 4.05 of the Business Corporation Act of 1983 or, if it is a member of a partnership or joint venture, from doing partnership or joint venture business under the partnership or joint venture name. The name under which the joint venture or partnership does business may differ from the names of the members. Business may not be conducted or transacted under that joint venture or partnership name, however, unless all provisions of the Assumed Business Name Act have been complied with. Nothing in this Section permits a foreign corporation to do business in this State without complying with all Illinois laws regulating the doing of business by foreign corporations. No foreign corporation may conduct or transact business in this State as a member of a partnership or joint venture that violates any Illinois law regulating or pertaining to the doing of business by foreign corporations in Illinois.

The provisions of this Section do not apply to limited partnerships formed under the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act or under the Uniform Limited Partnership Act (2001). (Source: P.A. 93-967, eff. 1-1-05.)

Sec. 17-13. Fraudulent land sales.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-13)

A person, after once selling, bartering, or disposing of a tract or tracts of land, town lot or lots, or executing a bond or agreement for the sale of lands, or town lot or lots, who again knowingly and fraudulently sells, barters, or disposes of the same tract or tracts of land, or town lot or lots, or any parts of those tracts of land, town lot or lots, or knowingly and fraudulently executes a bond or agreement to sell, barter, or dispose of the same land, or lot or lots, or any part of that land, lot or lots, to any other person for a valuable consideration is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Sec. 17-14. Party to fraudulent land conveyance.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-14)

A person who is a party to a fraudulent conveyance of lands, tenements or hereditaments, goods or chattels, or a right or interest issuing out of the same, or to a bond, action, judgment, or enforcement thereof; contract or conveyance had, made, or contrived, with intent to deceive and defraud others, or to defeat, hinder, or delay creditors or others of their just debts, damages, or demands, or who is a party as stated in this Section, at any time wittingly and willingly puts in use, avow, maintain, justify, or defend the same or any of them as true, and done, had, or made in good faith, or upon good consideration, or sells, aliens, or assigns any of the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, chattels, or other things mentioned in this Section, to him or her conveyed as stated in this Section, or any part thereof, is guilty of a business offense and shall be fined not exceeding $1,000. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

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    (720 ILCS 5/17-15)

If an officer authorized to take the proof and acknowledgment of a conveyance of real or personal property, or other instrument, wilfully certifies that the conveyance or other instrument was duly proven or acknowledged by a party to the conveyance or other instrument, when no such acknowledgment or proof was made, or was not made at the time it was certified to have been made, with intent to injure or defraud, or to enable any other person to injure or defraud, he or she is guilty of a Class 4 felony. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Sec. 17-16. Fraudulent production of infant.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-16)

A person who fraudulently produces an infant, falsely pretending it to have been born of parents whose child would be entitled to a share of a personal estate, or to inherit real estate, with the intent of intercepting the inheritance of the real estate, or the distribution of the personal property from a person lawfully entitled to the personal property, is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Sec. 17-17. Fraudulent issuance of stock.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-17)

Every president, cashier, treasurer, secretary, or other officer and every agent, attorney, servant, or employee of a bank, railroad, or manufacturing or other corporation, and every other person who, knowingly and designedly, and with intent to defraud a person, bank, railroad, or manufacturing or other corporation, issues, sells, transfers, assigns, or pledges, or causes or procures to be issued, sold, transferred, assigned, or pledged, any false, fraudulent, or simulated certificate or other evidence of ownership of a share or shares of the capital stock of a bank, railroad, or manufacturing or other corporation, is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Sec. 17-18. Fraudulent stock; officer signing.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-18)

Every president, cashier, treasurer, secretary, or other officer, and every agent of a bank, railroad, or manufacturing or other corporation, who wilfully and designedly signs, with intent to issue, sell, pledge, or cause to be issued, sold, or pledged, any false, fraudulent, or simulated certificate or other evidence of the ownership or transfer of a share or shares of the capital stock of that corporation, or an instrument purporting to be a certificate or other evidence of the ownership or transfer, the signing, issuing, selling, or pledging of which by the president, cashier, treasurer, or other officer or agent is not authorized by the charter and by-laws of the corporations, or by some amendment of the charter or by-laws, is, guilty of a Class 3 felony. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Sec. 17-19. Use of name Pawners' Society.
    (720 ILCS 5/17-19)

No person, firm, copartnership, or corporation (except corporations organized and doing business under the Pawners Societies Act) shall use a name that contains in it the words "Pawners' Society". A person, firm, copartnership, or corporation violating the provisions of this Section is guilty of a petty offense for each day the person, firm, copartnership, or corporation continues to use a name that contains those words and shall be fined not less than $5, nor more than $100. (Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)