PART X | Interpretation of this Part |
132. In this Part —| (a) | references to property comprised in the bankrupt’s estate or to property possession of which is required to be delivered up to the Official Assignee shall include any property mentioned in section 78(1); | | (b) | “initial period” means the period between the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against a debtor and the commencement of his bankruptcy; [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (c) | a reference to a number of months or years before the presentation of a bankruptcy a petition shall be read as a reference to that period ending with the presentation of the bankruptcy petition; and [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (d) | “Official Assignee” includes a trustee in bankruptcy appointed under section 33. |
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| Defence of innocent intention |
| 133. In the case of an offence under any provision of this Part, other than sections 135(e), 137, 140(2), 142, 143 and 145, a person shall not be guilty of the offence if he proves that, at the time of the conduct constituting the offence, he had no intent to defraud or to conceal the state of his affairs. |
134.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he does not to the best of his knowledge and belief disclose to the Official Assignee all the property comprised in his estate; or | | (b) | he does not inform the Official Assignee of any disposal of any property which, but for the disposal, would be comprised in his estate, stating how, when, to whom and for what consideration the property was disposed of. |
| (2) Subsection (1)(b) shall not apply to any disposal in the ordinary course of a business carried on by the bankrupt or to any payment of the ordinary expenses of the bankrupt or his family. |
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135. A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he does not deliver up possession to the Official Assignee, or as the Official Assignee may direct, of such part of the property comprised in his estate as is in his possession or under his control of which he is required by law to deliver up; | | (b) | he conceals any debt due to or from him or conceals any property the value of which is not less than $500 and possession of which he is required to deliver up to the Official Assignee; | | (c) | in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, or in the initial period, he did anything which would have been an offence under paragraph (b) if the bankruptcy order against him had been made immediately before he did it; [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (d) | he removes, or in the initial period removed, any property the value of which is or was not less than $500 and possession of which he is or would have been required to deliver up to the Official Assignee; or | | (e) | he without reasonable excuse fails, on being required to do so by the Official Assignee or the court —| (i) | to account for the loss of any substantial part of his property incurred in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him or in the initial period; or [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (ii) | to give a satisfactory explanation of the manner in which such a loss was incurred. |
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| Concealment of books and papers; falsification, etc. |
136. A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he does not deliver up possession to the Official Assignee, or as the Official Assignee may direct, of all books, papers and other records of which he has possession or control and which relate to his estate or his affairs; | | (b) | he prevents, or in the initial period prevented, the production of any books, papers or records relating to his estate or affairs; | | (c) | he conceals, destroys, mutilates or falsifies, or causes or permits the concealment, destruction, mutilation or falsification of, any books, papers or other records relating to his estate or affairs; | | (d) | he makes, or causes or permits the making of, any false entries in any book, document or record relating to his estate or affairs; | | (e) | he disposes of, or alters or makes any omission in, or causes or permits the disposal, altering or making of any omission in, any book, document or record relating to his estate or affairs; or | | (f) | in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, or in the initial period, he did anything which would have been an offence under paragraph (c), (d) or (e) if the bankruptcy order against him had been made before he did it. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
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137. A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he makes any false statement or any material omission in any statement under this Act relating to his affairs; | | (b) | knowing or believing that a false debt has been proved by any person under the bankruptcy, he fails to inform the Official Assignee as soon as practicable; | | (c) | he attempts to account for any part of his property by fictitious losses or expenses; | | (d) | at any meeting of his creditors in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him or (whether or not at such a meeting) at any time in the initial period, he did anything which would have been an offence under paragraph (c) if the bankruptcy order against him had been made before he did it; or [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (e) | he is, or at any time has been, guilty of any false representation or other fraud for the purpose of obtaining the consent of his creditors, or any of them, to an agreement with reference to his affairs or to his bankruptcy. |
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| Fraudulent disposal of property |
138.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he makes or causes to be made, or has during the period of 5 years prior to the date of the bankruptcy order against him made or caused to be made, any gift or transfer of, or any charge on, his property; or | | (b) | he conceals or removes, or has at any time before the commencement of the bankruptcy concealed or removed, any part of his property after, or within 2 months before, the date on which a judgment or order for the payment of money has been obtained against him, being a judgment or order which was not satisfied before the commencement of his bankruptcy. |
| (2) In this section, the reference to making a transfer of or a charge on any property includes causing or conniving at, the levying of any execution against that property. |
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139. A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | he leaves, or attempts or makes preparations to leave, Singapore with any property the value of which is $500 or more and possession of which he is required to deliver up to the Official Assignee; or | | (b) | in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, or in the initial period, he did anything which would have been an offence under paragraph (a) if the bankruptcy order against him had been made immediately before he did it. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
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| Fraudulent dealing with property obtained on credit |
| 140.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if, in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, or in the initial period, he disposed of any property which he had obtained on credit and, at the time he disposed of it, had not paid for. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] (2) A person shall be guilty of an offence if, in the 12 months before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against a bankrupt or in the initial period, he acquired or received property from the bankrupt knowing or believing —| (a) | that the bankrupt owed money in respect of the property; and | | (b) | that the bankrupt did not intend, or was unlikely to be able, to pay the money so owed. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
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| (3) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) if the disposal, acquisition or receipt of the property was in the ordinary course of a business carried on by the bankrupt at the time of the disposal, acquisition or receipt. |
| (4) In determining for the purposes of this section whether any property is disposed of, acquired or received in the ordinary course of a business carried on by the bankrupt, regard may be had, in particular, to the price paid for the property. |
| (5) In this section, any reference to disposing of property shall be read as including pawning or pledging of such property, and any reference to acquiring or receiving property shall be read accordingly. |
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| Obtaining credit; engaging in business |
141.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if, being an undischarged bankrupt —| (a) | either alone or jointly with any other person, he obtains credit to the extent of $500 or more from any person without informing that person that he is an undischarged bankrupt; or | | (b) | he engages in any trade or business under a name other than that under which he was adjudicated bankrupt without disclosing to all persons with whom he enters into any business transaction the name under which he was adjudicated bankrupt. |
(2) In this section, any reference to a bankrupt obtaining credit shall be read as including any case in which —| (a) | goods are bailed to him under a hire-purchase agreement; and | | (b) | he is paid in advance (whether in money or otherwise) for the supply of goods or services. |
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| Failure to keep proper accounts of business |
142.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if, having been engaged in any business within 2 years before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, he has not —| (a) | kept proper accounting records throughout that period and throughout any part of the initial period in which he was so engaged; or | | (b) | preserved all the accounting records which he has kept. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed not to have kept proper accounting records if he has not kept such records as are necessary to show or explain his transactions and financial position in his business, including —| (a) | records containing entries from day to day, in sufficient detail, of all cash paid and received; | | (b) | where the business involved dealings in goods, statements of annual stock-takings; and | | (c) | except in the case of goods sold by way of retail trade to the actual customer, records of all goods sold and purchased showing the buyers and sellers in sufficient detail to enable the goods and the buyers and sellers to be identified. |
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(3) A bankrupt shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) —| (a) | if his unsecured liabilities at the commencement of the bankruptcy did not exceed $10,000; or | | (b) | if he proves that in the circumstances in which he carried on business the omission was honest and excusable. |
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143.—(1) A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if he has —| (a) | in the 2 years before the presentation of the bankruptcy petition by or against him, materially contributed to, or increased the extent of, his insolvency by gambling or by rash and hazardous speculations; or [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (b) | in the initial period, lost any part of his property by gambling or by rash and hazardous speculations. |
| (2) In determining for the purposes of this section whether any speculation was rash and hazardous, the financial position of the bankrupt at the time when he entered into them shall be taken into consideration. |
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| Bankrupt incurring debt without reasonable ground of expectation of being able to pay it |
144. A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if —| (a) | within 12 months before the presentation of a bankruptcy petition by or against him or during the initial period, he incurs any debt provable in bankruptcy; or [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] | | (b) | having been engaged in carrying on any trade or business, he continues to trade or carry on business by incurring any debt provable in bankruptcy within 12 months before the date of the presentation of a bankruptcy petition by or against him or during the initial period, he being insolvent on the date of incurring the debt, [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
| without any reasonable ground of expectation of being able to pay it. |
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| Making of false claims, etc. |
145.—(1) Any creditor in any bankruptcy, composition or arrangement with creditors shall be guilty of an offence if he makes any claim, proof, declaration or statement of account which is untrue in any material particular unless he satisfies the court that he had no intent to defraud.| (2) A creditor shall be guilty of an offence if he obtains or receives any money, property or security from any person as an inducement for forbearing to oppose, or for consenting to, the discharge of a bankrupt. |
| (3) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he, knowing that a bankruptcy order has been made against a debtor, removes, conceals, receives or otherwise deals with or disposes of any part of the property of the debtor, with intent to defeat the order. |
| (4) Fines imposed and levied under this section shall be deemed to be part of the property of the bankrupt and shall vest in the Official Assignee. |
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| 146. A person guilty of any offence under this Part shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both. |
147.—(1) It shall not be a defence in proceedings for an offence under this Act that anything relied on, in whole or in part, as constituting that offence was done outside Singapore.| (2) In a charge for an offence under this Act, it shall be sufficient to set forth the substance of the offence charged in the words of this Act, specifying the offence or as near thereto as circumstances admit, without alleging or setting forth any debt, demand, petition or any proceedings in, or order, warrant or document of any court acting under this Act. [42/2005 wef 01/04/2006] |
| (3) Where a bankrupt has been guilty of any offence under this Act, he shall not be exempt from being proceeded against therefor by reason that he has obtained his discharge or that the bankruptcy order made against him has been annulled or rescinded. |
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