Criminal penalties for violations of article; enforcement; scienter.

(a) A person who willfully violates Section 8-6-3 or Section 8-6-4, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a Class C felony. A person that willfully violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Section 8-6-17, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a Class B felony. The limitations period for any prosecution under this section does not commence or begin to accrue until the discovery of the facts constituting the deception, after which the prosecution shall be commenced within five years.

(b) A person who willfully violates any provision of this chapter, other than those noted in subsection (a), or a rule adopted or order issued under this chapter, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(c) The enforcement of the provisions of this article shall be vested in the commission. It shall be the duty of the commission to see that its provisions are at all times obeyed and to take such measures and to make such investigations as will prevent or detect the violation of any provision thereof. The commission shall at once lay before the district attorney of the proper county any evidence which shall come to its knowledge of criminality under this article. In the event of the neglect or refusal of the district attorney to institute and prosecute such violation, the commission shall be authorized to proceed therein with all the rights, privileges, and powers conferred by law upon district or court attorneys including the power to appear before grand juries and to interrogate witnesses before such grand juries.

(d) Nothing in this article limits the power of the state to punish any person for any conduct which constitutes a crime by statute or at common law.

(e) In any proceeding under this article, scienter need not be alleged and proved in prosecutions involving the sale of unregistered securities or in the failure to register as a dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative under this article.

(Acts 1959, No. 542, p. 1318, §17; Acts 1969, No. 605, p. 1093, §7; Acts 1971, No. 2243, p. 3598, §3; Acts 1979, No. 79-462, p. 827, §6; Acts 1990, No. 90-527, p. 772, §1; Act 2009-774, p. 2401, §1; Act 2014-348, p. 1293, §1.)