(5) A person—
- (a) who intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document or information which the person has been required by an authorised officer or enforcement officer under subsection (1) to provide; or
- (b) who, in providing any document or information required by an authorised officer or enforcement officer under subsection (1), makes any statement which the person—
- (i) knows or ought reasonably to know that; or
- (ii) is reckless as to whether,
- it is false or misleading,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
(6) Subsection (5) does not apply if the document or information is not false or misleading in a material particular, or if the document or information does not omit any matter or thing without which the document or information (as the case may be) is misleading in a material particular.
(7) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to do anything required of the person by an authorised officer or enforcement officer under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
(8) However, in any proceedings for an offence under subsection (7), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that—
- (a) the person does not possess the document or information required; and
- (b) the person has taken all reasonable steps available to the person to obtain the document or information required and has been unable to obtain it.
