19.—(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)for the purposes of obtaining financial assistance for himself or any other person he knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular; or
(b)he intentionally obstructs an authorised person (or a person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of his powers under regulation 9.
(2) A person who is guilty of an offence shall be liable—
(a)in the case of an offence under paragraph (1)(a)—
(i)on conviction on indictment, to a fine; or
(ii)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and
(b)in the case of an offence under paragraph (1)(b), to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) Where an offence under this regulation committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, chief executive, manager, member of the management committee, secretary or other similar officer of that body or any person who was purporting to act in such a capacity, he is also guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (3) applies to acts and defaults of a member in connection with his management functions as if he were a director.
(5) “Officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity.