(1)If, with intent to deceive, any person—
(a)uses any document issued for the purposes of this Part of this Act or of any order made under this Part of this Act; or
(b)has in his possession any document so closely resembling such a document as aforesaid as to be calculated to deceive; or
(c)produces, furnishes, sends or otherwise makes use of, for purposes connected with this Part of this Act or any order or direction made or given under this Part of this Act, any book, account, estimate, return, declaration or other document which is false in a material particular,
he shall be guilty of an offence against this Part of this Act.
(2)If, in furnishing any information for the purposes of this Part of this Act or of any order made under this Part of this Act, any person makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular, he shall be guilty of an offence against this Part of this Act.
No person who obtains any information by virtue of this Part of this Act shall, otherwise than in connection with the execution of this Part of this Act or of an order made under this Part of this Act, disclose that information except for the purposes of any criminal proceedings, or of a report of any criminal proceedings, or with permission granted by or on behalf of a Minister of the Crown.
(1)Where an offence under this Part of this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2)In this section, the expression “director”, in relation to a body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate.
(1)If any person contravenes or fails to comply with this Part of this Act, or any order made under this Part of this Act, or any direction given or requirement imposed under this Part of this Act or under any order made under this Part of this Act, he shall, save as otherwise expressly provided, be guilty of an offence against this Part of this Act; and, subject to any special provisions contained in this Part of this Act, a person guilty of an offence against this Part of this Act shall—
(a)on summary conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to both; or
(b)on conviction on indictment, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, or to both.
(2)Where a person convicted on indictment of an offence against this Part of this Act is a body corporate, no provision in this Part of this Act limiting the amount of the fine which may be imposed shall apply, and the body corporate shall be liable to a fine of such amount as the court thinks just.
(1)No proceedings for an offence against an order or direction under section 1, section 2 . . . F1 of this Act shall be instituted in England and Wales except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Board of Trade F2. . .or the Treasury.
(2)Proceedings in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by a person against an order or direction under section 1, section 2 . . . F1 of this Act may be taken before the appropriate court in the United Kingdom having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being.
Textual Amendments
F1Words repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977 (c. 18), Sch. 1 Pt. XIX
F2Words in s. 14(1) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993 c. 50, s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. XVI Group1.