s 44A Power to obtain information
44A.—(1) The Director-General or an authorised officer may by written notice require any licensee or other person to furnish, within a reasonable period specified in the notice, and in the form and manner that may be specified in the notice, all documents and information which relate to any matter that the Director-General or authorised officer considers necessary for the purposes of administering, enforcing or monitoring compliance with any provision of this Act, and which are within the knowledge of that person or in that person’s custody or under that person’s control.[12/2011] [Act 24 of 2021 wef 28/02/2022] (2) The power to require a person to furnish any document or information under subsection (1) includes the power —(a) to require that person, or any person who is or was an officer or employee of that person, to provide an explanation of the document or information; (b) if the document or information is not furnished, to require that person to state, to the best of that person’s knowledge and belief, where it is; and (c) if the information is recorded otherwise than in legible form, to require the information to be made available to the Director-General or any authorised officer in legible form.[12/2011] [Act 24 of 2021 wef 28/02/2022] (3) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to do anything required of the person by notice under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.[12/2011] (4) Any person who —(a) intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document or information which the person has been required by a notice under subsection (1) to furnish; or (b) in furnishing any document or information required under subsection (1), makes any statement which the person knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly makes such a statement, 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 3 months or to both. [12/2011] (5) If any person fails to comply with a notice under subsection (1), the court may, on the application of the Director-General, make any order that the court thinks fit to secure compliance with the notice and the order may provide that all the costs or expenses of and incidental to the application must be borne by the person or by any officer of a company or other association who is responsible for the failure.[12/2011] [Act 24 of 2021 wef 28/02/2022] (6) Where a notice under subsection (1) is issued in connection with investigations into a suspected offence under this Act, the Director-General or any authorised officer may, at any time after the expiry of the period specified in the notice, enter any building or place where the Director-General or authorised officer has reason to believe that any document or information, in respect of which it has given the notice, may be found, and seize or take extracts or copies of that document or information.[12/2011] [Act 24 of 2021 wef 28/02/2022] (7) The Director-General or any authorised officer is entitled without payment to keep any document or information, or any copy or extract thereof, furnished under subsection (1) or obtained under subsection (6).[12/2011] [Act 24 of 2021 wef 28/02/2022]