1. (a) In addition to any other remedies provided by law, a victim who has suffered loss as a result of a criminal violation of this article may bring an action in his or her county of residence or any county in which any part of the crime took place, regardless of whether the defendant who committed the criminal violation was ever actually present in that county, against the defendant to recover the following:

   1. (1) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each incident, or three times the actual damages, whichever is greater.
   2. (2) Reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
2. (b) The statute of limitations for cases under this section shall be seven years from the earlier of the date of discovery of the offense or the date when the offense reasonably should have been discovered.

(Act 2001-312, p. 399, §10; Act 2006-148, p. 218, §1.)