Section 442-E. Violations

1.  Misdemeanors;  triable in court of special
  sessions. Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be
  guilty of a misdemeanor. The commission of a single  act  prohibited  by
  this  article shall constitute a violation hereof. All courts of special
  sessions, within their respective territorial jurisdictions, are  hereby
  empowered  to  hear,  try and determine such crimes, without indictment,
  and to impose the punishments prescribed by law therefor.
    2. Attorney general to prosecute. Criminal actions for  violations  of
  this article shall be prosecuted by the attorney general, or his deputy,
  in  the name of the people of the state, and in any such prosecution the
  attorney general, or his deputy,  shall  exercise  all  the  powers  and
  perform  all  the  duties which the district attorney would otherwise be
  authorized to exercise or  to  perform  therein.  The  attorney  general
  shall,  upon  a  conviction  for  a  violation  of any provision of this
  article, and  within  ten  days  thereafter,  make  and  file  with  the
  department  of  state  a  detailed  report  showing  the  date  of  such
  conviction, the name of the person convicted and the exact nature of the
  charge.
    3. Penalty recoverable by person aggrieved. In case the offender shall
  have received any sum of money as commission, compensation or profit  by
  or  in consequence of his violation of any provision of this article, he
  shall also be liable to a penalty of not less than the amount of the sum
  of money received by him as such commission, compensation or profit  and
  not  more  than  four  times  the  sum  so  received  by  him, as may be
  determined by the court, which penalty may be sued for and recovered  by
  any  person  aggrieved  and  for  his  use  and benefit, in any court of
  competent jurisdiction.
    4. In  any  prosecution  under  this  article,  any  person,  firm  or
  corporation  who, for another, performs or offers to perform or attempts
  or offers to attempt, the performance of any one of the acts  set  forth
  in  section  four hundred forty of this article, shall be presumed to do
  so for a fee, commission  or  other  valuable  consideration,  but  such
  presumption  shall  not  arise  out of a single transaction, except upon
  proof of repeated and successive acts, offers  or  attempts  of  a  like
  nature.
    5.  The  secretary  of  state  shall  have  the  power  to enforce the
  provisions of this article and upon complaint of any person, or  on  his
  own  initiative,  to investigate any violation thereof or to investigate
  the business, business practices and business  methods  of  any  person,
  firm  or  corporation applying for or holding a license as a real estate
  broker or salesman, if in the opinion of the  secretary  of  state  such
  investigation  is  warranted.  Each  such applicant or licensee shall be
  obliged,  on  request  of  the  secretary  of  state,  to  supply   such
  information  as may be required concerning his or its business, business
  practices  or  business  methods,  or  proposed  business  practices  or
  methods.
    6.  For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article and in
  making investigations relating to any violation  thereof,  and  for  the
  purpose  of investigating the character, competency and integrity of the
  applicants or licensees hereunder, and for the purpose of  investigating
  the  business,  business practices and business methods of any applicant
  or licensee, or of the officers or agents  thereof,  the  department  of
  state,  acting  by  such  officer  or  person  in  the department as the
  secretary of state may designate, shall have the power to  subpoena  and
  bring  before  the  officer  or  person so designated any person in this
  state and require the production of any books or papers which  he  deems
  relevant  to the inquiry and administer an oath to and take testimony of
  any person or cause his deposition to be taken with the  same  fees  and

  mileage and in the same manner as prescribed by law for civil cases in a
  court  of  record,  except  that any applicant or licensee or officer or
  agent thereof shall not be entitled to such  fees  and/or  mileage.  Any
  person,  duly  subpoenaed,  who  fails  to  obey  such  subpoena without
  reasonable cause or without such cause refuses  to  be  examined  or  to
  answer   any  legal  or  pertinent  question  as  to  the  character  or
  qualification of such applicant  or  licensee  or  such  applicant's  or
  licensee's  business, business practices and methods or such violations,
  shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
    7. In any criminal proceeding before any court or grand jury, or  upon
  any  investigation before the department of state for a violation of any
  of the provisions of this section, the  court  or  grand  jury,  or  the
  secretary   of  state,  his  deputy  or  other  officer  conducting  the
  investigation, may confer immunity, in accordance with the provisions of
  section 50.20 or 190.40 of the criminal procedure law.
    8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, with respect  to
  violations  of  section  four  hundred  forty-two-h of this article, the
  secretary of state is authorized, upon the complaint of any person or on
  his or her own initiative, to investigate and  prosecute  violations  of
  the  provisions of such section by persons not licensed pursuant to this
  article and may impose a fine not exceeding one  hundred  fifty  dollars
  for the first violation, not exceeding five hundred dollars for a second
  violation,  and  not exceeding one thousand dollars for a third and each
  subsequent violation. The attorney general,  acting  on  behalf  of  the
  secretary  of  state, may commence an action or proceeding in a court of
  competent jurisdiction to obtain  a  judgment  against  such  unlicensed
  person in an amount equal to that imposed as a fine.