90Enforcement of information and investigation powers
(1)If a person other than an investigator (“the defaulter”) fails to comply with a requirement imposed under any of sections 81 to 88, the person imposing the requirement may certify that fact in writing to the court.
(2)If the court is satisfied that the defaulter failed without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirement, it may deal with the defaulter (and in the case of a body corporate, any director or other officer of the body) as if that person were in contempt.
(3)In subsection (2) “officer”, in relation to a limited liability partnership, means a member of the limited liability partnership.
(4)A person who knows or suspects that an investigation is being or is likely to be conducted under section 83 is guilty of an offence if the person—
(a)falsifies, conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of a document which the person knows or suspects is or would be relevant to such an investigation, or
(b)causes or permits the falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of such a document.
(5)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (4) to show that the person had no intention of concealing facts disclosed by the documents from the investigator.
(6)A person is guilty of an offence if the person, in purported compliance with a requirement imposed under any of sections 81 to 88—
(a)provides information which the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or
(b)recklessly provides information which is false or misleading in a material particular.
(7)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) or (6) is liable—
(a)on summary conviction—
(i)in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months (or 6 months, if the offence was committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003) or a fine, or both;
(ii)in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;
(iii)in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;
(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine, or both.
(8)Any person who intentionally obstructs the exercise of any rights conferred by a warrant under section 88 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction—
(a)in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks (or 3 months, if the offence was committed before the commencement of section 280(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003) or a fine, or both;
(b)in Scotland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both;
(c)in Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.
(9)In this section—
“court” means the High Court or, in Scotland, the Court of Session;
“investigator” means a person appointed under section 83.