202.18 Penalties and enforcement.

(1)

(a) The department of justice may bring an action to prosecute a violation of this subchapter or the rules promulgated under this subchapter, including an action for temporary or permanent injunction.

(b) Upon finding that a person has violated this subchapter or the applicable rules promulgated under s. 202.07 (4m) or this subchapter, the court may make any necessary order or judgment, including but not limited to injunctions, restitution, and, notwithstanding s. 814.04, award of reasonable attorney fees and costs of investigation and litigation, and, except as provided in par. (c), may impose a forfeiture of not less than $100 nor more than $10,000 for each violation.

(c)

1. A person who violates s. 202.17 (4) (b) may be required to forfeit not more than $5,000, unless the person establishes reasonable cause for the violation.

2. A person who, with intent to avoid, prevent, or interfere with a civil investigation under this subsection, does any of the following may be required to forfeit not more than $5,000:

a. Alters or by any other means falsifies, removes from any place, conceals, withholds, destroys, or mutilates any documentary material in the possession, custody, or control of a person subject to notice of the taking of testimony or examination of documents under s. 202.17 (4).

b. Knowingly conceals relevant information.

(d) A charitable organization, fund-raising counsel, professional fund-raiser, commercial coventurer, or any other person who violates the terms of an injunction or other order entered under this subsection may be required to forfeit, in addition to all other remedies, not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 for each violation. The department of justice may recover the forfeiture in a civil action. Each separate violation of an order entered under this subsection is a separate offense, except that each day of a violation through continuing failure to obey an order is a separate offense.

(e) No charitable organization may indemnify an officer, employee, or director for any costs, fees, restitution, or forfeitures assessed against that individual by the court under par. (b), (c), or (d) unless the court determines that the individual acted in good faith and reasonably believed the conduct was in or not opposed to the best interests of the charitable organization.

(2) The department or the department of justice may accept a written assurance of discontinuance of any act or practice alleged to be a violation of this subchapter or the rules promulgated under this subchapter from the person who has engaged in the act or practice. The assurance may, among other terms, include a stipulation for the voluntary payment by the person of the costs of investigation, or of an amount to be held in escrow pending the outcome of an action or as restitution to aggrieved persons, or both. The department or department of justice may at any time reopen a matter in which an assurance of discontinuance is accepted for further proceedings if the department or department of justice determines that reopening the matter is in the public interest.

History: 1991 a. 278; 2013 a. 20 s. 2217; Stats. 2013 s. 202.18; 2015 a. 163.