Fraud Act 2006

9 Participating in fraudulent business carried on by sole trader etc. E+W+N.I.

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he is knowingly a party to the carrying on of a business to which this section applies.

(2) This section applies to a business which is carried on—

(a) by a person who is outside the reach of [F1 section 993 of the Companies Act 2006] (offence of fraudulent trading), and

(b) with intent to defraud creditors of any person or for any other fraudulent purpose.

(3) The following are within the reach of [F2 that section]—

(a) a company [F3 (as defined in section 1(1) of the Companies Act 2006)];

(b) a person to whom that section applies (with or without adaptations or modifications) as if the person were a company;

(c) a person exempted from the application of that section.

(4) F4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5) “Fraudulent purpose” has the same meaning as in [F5 that section].

(6) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding [F6 the general limit in a magistrates’ court] or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or to both);

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine (or to both).

(7) Subsection (6)(a) applies in relation to Northern Ireland as if the reference to 12 months were a reference to 6 months.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 9(2)(a) substituted (1.10.2007 with application as mentioned in Sch. 4 para. 111(6) of the amending S.I.) by virtue of The Companies Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3, Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2194), arts. 1(3)(a), 10(1), Sch. 4 para. 111(2) (with art. 12)

F2 Words in s. 9(3) substituted (1.10.2007 with application as mentioned in Sch. 4 para. 111(6) of the amending S.I.) by The Companies Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3, Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2194), arts. 1(3)(a), 10(1), Sch. 4 para. 111(3)(a) (with art. 12)

F3 Words in s. 9(3)(a) substituted (1.10.2009) by The Companies Act 2006 (Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1941), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 257 (with art. 10)

F4 S. 9(4) repealed (1.10.2007 with application as mentioned in Sch. 4 para. 111(6) of the amending S.I.) by The Companies Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3, Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2194), arts. 1(3)(a), 10(1)(3), Sch. 4 para. 111(4), Sch. 5 (with art. 12)

F5 Words in s. 9(5) substituted (1.10.2007 with application as mentioned in Sch. 4 para. 111(6) of the amending S.I.) by The Companies Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3, Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/2194), arts. 1(3)(a), 10(1), Sch. 4 para. 111(5) (with art. 12)

F6 Words in s. 9(6)(a) (and, by implication, the same words in s. 9(7)) substituted (7.2.2023 at 12.00 p.m.) by The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/149), regs. 1(2), 2(1), Sch. Pt. 1