Offences, Notices, &c
39Offences
(1)Any collecting society which contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act, or any directions by the Commissioner given thereunder, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and the provisions of the Friendly Societies Act, 1896, with respect to offences thereunder and to proceedings in respect of such offences shall apply to offences by societies under this Act:
Provided that the maximum penalty which may be inflicted for an offence under this Act shall be a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, in the case of a continuing offence, a fine not exceeding fifty pounds a day during which the offence continues.
(2)Any industrial assurance company which contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act, or any directions given by the Commissioner thereunder shall be guilty of an offence under this Act, and a company guilty of such an offence shall be liable to the like penalties, recoverable in the same manner, as in the case of a default in complying with any of the requirements of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, and section twenty-three of that Act shall apply accordingly.
(3)If any collector of a collecting society or industrial assurance company, or any other person, contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act affecting such collector or other person, he shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(4)Where any body of persons not being a collecting society or industrial assurance company as defined by this Act carries on industrial assurance business, any director, manager or secretary or other officer or agent of that body who is knowingly a party to the carrying on of such business shall, unless that body is exempted from the provisions of this Act, be guilty of an offence under this Act and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds for each day during which the offence continues:
Provided that, where a person is convicted of a second offence under this subsection, he may be sentenced to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months.
Any such body of persons as aforesaid shall also, without prejudice to any other penalty, be liable to pay to the owner of any policy of industrial assurance issued by them such sum as an industrial assurance company which has knowingly issued an illegal policy is under this Act liable to pay to the owner of such illegal policy.
(5)Notwithstanding any limitation on the time for the taking of proceedings contained in any Act, summary proceedings for offences under this Act, or for offences under the Friendly Societies Act, 1896, where the society by or in respect of which, or the person by or in respect of whom, the offence is alleged to have been committed is a collecting society or an officer of such a society, may be commenced at any time within one year of the first discovery thereof by the Commissioner, but not in any case after more than three years from the commission of the offence.
(6)The court by which a fine is imposed in pursuance of this Act may direct that the whole or any part thereof shall be applied in or towards the payment of the costs of the proceedings and subject to any such direction and, subject in England to section four of the [4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 58.] Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, all such fines shall, notwithstanding anything in any other Act, be paid into the Exchequer.
40Penalties for falsification
If any person wilfully makes, orders, or allows to be made any entry or erasure in, or omission from a collecting book or premium receipt book, with intent to falsify that book, or to evade any of the provisions of this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine.
41Notices
Where any notice is required by this Act to be served upon any member or other person, the notice shall be in writing, and either delivered or sent by post to him, or, in the case of a notice of default, so delivered or sent or left at his last known place of abode.