Powers to obtain information and call for return
Open ↗24.—(1) The Board or any officer, employee or agent of the Board authorised by the Board in that behalf may by written notice require any person to provide, within the time specified in the notice, any information or document that may be required by the Board or the officer, employee or agent of the Board (as the case may be) for the purpose of inquiring into or ascertaining —(a)
the truth or correctness of any statement which has been made, or of any information which has been given, by a person who has applied for any financing, incentive or grant from the Board; or[Act 29 of 2023 wef 18/09/2023]
(b)
whether any financing, incentive or grant from the Board has been properly applied by the person to whom it was provided.[Act 29 of 2023 wef 18/09/2023]
(2) The Board or any officer, employee or agent of the Board authorised by the Board in that behalf has at all times full and free access to all lands, buildings, places, books, documents and other papers for any of the purposes of this Act and may for any such purpose inspect, make copies of or take extracts from those books, documents or papers, or take possession of any of those books, documents or papers, if, in the opinion of the Board or the person so authorised —(a)
the inspection or copying of or extraction from the books, documents or papers cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession of them;
(b)
the books, documents or papers may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession of them is taken; or
(c)
the books, documents or papers may be required as evidence in any proceedings instituted or commenced for any of the purposes of, or in connection with, this Act.
Penalty for obstructing Board in carrying out duties
Open ↗25. Any person who at any time hinders or obstructs the Board or any officer, employee or agent of the Board acting in the discharge of their duties under this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Forgery of certificates, false or misleading information, statement or document
Open ↗26. If any person —(a)
forges or counterfeits any document or certificate required by the Board for the purposes of this Act;
(b)
gives any information required by the Board for the purposes of this Act knowing it to be false in any material particular; or
(c)
obtains any financing, incentive or grant from the Fund under this Act by means of any false or misleading statement or any document that is false or misleading in any material particular,[Act 29 of 2023 wef 18/09/2023]
the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
Open ↗27.—(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or
(b)
to be attributable to any act or default on the officer’s part,
the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or
(b)
to be attributable to any act or default on the partner’s part,
the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(4) Where an offence under this Act committed by a limited liability partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner or manager of the limited liability partnership, the partner or manager (as the case may be) as well as the partnership shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(5) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —(a)
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or
(b)
to be attributable to any act or default on the part of such an officer or member,
the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(6) In this section —“body corporate” and “partnership” exclude a limited liability partnership within the meaning of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005;
“officer” —(a)
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, member of the committee of management, chief executive officer, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and
(b)
in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of the president, secretary or member of such a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.
(7) The Minister may make rules to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with any modifications that the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate, limited liability partnership or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.
Composition of offences
Open ↗28.—(1) An Executive Secretary or any officer authorised by an Executive Secretary may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:(a)
one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; or
(b)
$2,000.
(2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings are to be taken against that person in respect of the offence.
(3) The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.
(4) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Fund.
Regulations
Open ↗29. The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
