(a) The court may, in an action brought by the Attorney General under the unfair competition laws (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code) or false advertising laws (Article 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code), and in addition to the remedies provided for in those statutes, award the remedy of disgorgement.

(b) In determining whether to award disgorgement pursuant to subdivision (a), and the amount thereof, the court shall take into account, in addition to any other appropriate factors, the amount of civil penalties and restitution ordered by the court.

Terms Used In California Government Code 12527.6

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10

(c) Funds recovered by the Attorney General under this section shall be deposited into the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund.

(d) The Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund is established in the State Treasury. Funds in the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund may, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used by the Attorney General to provide restitution to victims of acts or practices for which consumer restitution has been ordered but not paid in an action brought by the Attorney General under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code or Article 1 (commencing with Section 17500) of Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code. If the Attorney General pays restitution from the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund and then recovers restitution from a defendant in the underlying action or from another source, those recoveries may be used by the Attorney General to reimburse the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund.

(e) The Attorney General may promulgate regulations in furtherance of this section.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 686, Sec. 1. (AB 1366) Effective January 1, 2024.)

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 2 Contents