Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 59 Part 1.djvu/611

 59 STAT.] 79TH CONG. , IST SESS.-CH. 515 -DEC. 3, 1945 person thereunto duly authorized as lawful agent of the United tates, or while it was in the course of shipment effected pursuant to and in accordance with the regulations issued under the provisions of the Government Losses in Shipment Act; (2) if substantially the entire check is presented and surrendered by the owner or holder and the Secretary of the Treasury is satisfied as to the identity of the check presented and that any missing portions are not sufficient to form the basis of a valid claim against the United States; (3) if the Secretary of the Treasury is satisfied that the original check is not negotiable and cannot be made the basis of a valid claim against the United States; (4) if the amount of the check is not more than $200; (5) if the owner or holder is the United States or an officer or employee thereof in his official capacity, a State, the District of Columbia, a Territory or possession of the United States, including the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands, a municipal corpora- tion or political subdivision of any of the foregoing, a corporation, the whole of whose capital is owned by the United States, a foreign government, or a Federal Reserve bank: Provided, however That in any of the foregoing classes of cases the Secretary of the Treasury may require an undertaking of indemnity if he deems it essential to the public interest. "(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section whenever it is clearly proved to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that any original check of the United States drawn on a depositary in a foreign country or a Territory or possession of the United States, including the Panama Canal Zone and the Philippine Islands, is lost, stolen, or wholly or partly destroyed, or is so mutilated or defaced as to impair its value to its owner or holder, the drawer of the original check or such other officer or employee of the United States as may be authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury with the concurrence of the head of the department or agency upon whose behalf the original check was issued is authorized, before the close of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the original check was issued, to issue to the owner or holder thereof a substitute under current date showing such information as may be necessary to identify the original check, drawn against the account of the drawer of the original check or such other account as may be available for the payment of such substitute, upon the receipt and approval by the Secretary of the Treasury of an undertaking, to indemnify the United States, in such form and amount and with such surety, sureties, or security, if any, as the Secretary of the Treasury may require; but no such substitute shall be payable if the original check shall first have been paid. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to relieve any certifying officer or his sureties or any disbursing officer or his sureties of any liability to the United States on account of any payment resulting from the erroneous issuance of the original check. "(d) The Secretary of the Treasury shall have the power to make such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary for the admin- istration of the provisions of this section. "(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b),(c), and (d) of this section, whenever any original check of the Post Office Department has been lost, stolen, or destroyed, the Postmaster General may authorize the issuance of a substitute, marked 'duplicate' and showing the number, date, and payee of the original check, before the close of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the orig- inal check was issued2 upon the execution by the owner thereof of such bond of indemnity as the Postmaster General may prescribe: Provided, That when such original check does not exceed in amount 66347--46 -PT. --- 8 50 Stat. 479. 5 U.S. C. i 134g. U. S. checks drawn on depositary in foreign country, etc. Liability of certify- ing or disbursing officer. Rules and regula- tions. Post Office Depart- ment. Duplicate checks. Indemnity bod. Affidavit in JiL-

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