Every person holding the office of public administrator, public guardian, or public conservator and any deputy or agent of such officer is guilty of a crime who:
(a)
Purchases, directly or indirectly, the property of any estate or a claim against any estate administered by any public administrator, public guardian, or public conservator in his official capacity, or
(b)
Acts upon any transaction or expenditure in connection with the administration of an estate by the public administrator, public guardian, or public conservator in his official capacity, when he has a financial interest in such transaction or expenditure, or, having knowledge
of such interest, is associated in business with anyone who has such an interest.
Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not be applicable to any act specifically authorized by court order.
Any violation of this section is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code. Upon conviction of this section a person forfeits his office. This section is not intended to preclude prosecution under any other provisions of the criminal law which are otherwise applicable.