Investigation of
Fraud (Jersey) Law 1991
A LAW to make provision for the
investigation of fraud and for connected purposes
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
In this Law –
“documents” includes
information recorded in any form and, in relation to information recorded
otherwise than in legible form, references to its production include references
to producing a copy of the information in legible form;
“police officer”
means a member of the Honorary Police or a member of the States of Jersey
Police Force.
2 Attorney General’s powers of investigation
(1) The
powers of the Attorney General under this Article shall be exercisable in any
case in which it appears to the Attorney General that –
(a) there
is a suspected offence involving serious or complex fraud, wherever committed;
and
(b) there
is good reason to do so for the purpose of investigating the affairs, or any
aspect of the affairs, of any person.
(2) The
Attorney General may –
(a) by
notice in writing require the person whose affairs are to be investigated (“the
person under investigation”) or any other person whom he or she has
reason to believe has relevant information to answer questions or otherwise
furnish information with respect to any matter relevant to the investigation at
a specified place and either at a specified time or forthwith; and
(b) administer
questions or otherwise obtain information accordingly.[1]
(3) The
Attorney General may by notice in writing require the person under
investigation or any other person to produce at such place as may be specified
in the notice and either forthwith or at such time as may be so specified any
specified documents which appear to the Attorney General to relate to any
matter relevant to the investigation or any documents of a specified
description which appear to the Attorney General so to relate; and
(a) if
any such documents are produced, the Attorney General may –
(i) take copies or
extracts from them,
(ii) require the
person producing them to provide an explanation of any of them;
(b) if
any such documents are not produced, the Attorney General may require the
person who was required to produce them to state, to the best of the
person’s knowledge and belief, where they are.
(4) If,
on an application by the Attorney General, the Bailiff is satisfied, in
relation to any documents, that there are reasonable grounds for
believing –
(a) that –
(i) a person has
failed to comply with an obligation under this Article to produce them,
(ii) it is not
practicable to serve a notice under paragraph (3) in relation to them, or
(iii) the service of such a
notice in relation to them might seriously prejudice the investigation; and
(b) that
they are on premises specified in the application,
the Bailiff may issue such a warrant as is mentioned in paragraph (5).
(5) The
warrant referred to in paragraph (4) is a warrant authorizing any police
officer –
(a) to
enter (using such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose) and search
the premises; and
(b) to
take possession of any documents appearing to be documents of the description
specified in the application or to take in relation to any documents so
appearing any other steps which may appear to be necessary for preserving them
and preventing interference with them.
(6) A
police officer executing a warrant issued under paragraph (4) may be
accompanied by any person or persons expressly authorized for that purpose by
the Attorney General.
(7) A
statement by a person in response to a requirement imposed by virtue of this Article
may only be used in evidence against the person –
(a) on
a prosecution for an offence under paragraph (14); or
(b) on
a prosecution for some other offence where in giving evidence the person makes
a statement inconsistent with it.
(8) A
person shall not under this Article be required to disclose any information or
produce any document which the person would be entitled to refuse to disclose
or produce on grounds of legal professional privilege in proceedings in the
Royal Court, except that a lawyer may be required to furnish the name and
address of the lawyer’s client.
(9) A
person shall not under this Article be required to disclose information or
produce a document in respect of which the person owes an obligation of
confidence by virtue of carrying on any banking business unless –
(a) the
person to whom the obligation of confidence is owed consents to the disclosure
or production; or
(b) the
Attorney General has authorized the making of the requirement.
(10) The
Attorney General may –
(a) authorize
any Crown Advocate; or
(b) subject
to paragraph (11), authorize any other person,
to exercise on behalf of the Attorney General all or any of the
powers conferred on him or her by or under this Article, but no such authority
shall be granted except for the purpose of investigating the affairs, or any
aspect of the affairs, of the person specified in the authority.[2]
(11) No
person mentioned in paragraph (10)(b) shall be authorized to –
(a) give a notice under
paragraph (2)(a) or paragraph (3);
(b) make an application
under paragraph (4);
(c) authorize any person or
persons for the purposes of paragraph (6); or
(d) authorize the making of
any requirement for the purposes of paragraph (9).[3]
(12) No
person shall be bound to comply with any requirement imposed by a person
exercising powers by virtue of any authority granted under paragraph (10)
unless the person has, if required to do so, produced evidence of the
person’s authority.
(13) Any
person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with a requirement imposed
on the person under this Article shall be guilty of an offence and liable on
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine or to
both.
(14) A person
who, in purported compliance with a requirement under this Article –
(a) makes
a statement which the person knows to be false or misleading in a material
particular; or
(b) recklessly
makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.
(15) If any
person –
(a) knows
or suspects that an investigation by the Attorney General into serious or
complex fraud is being or is likely to be carried out; and
(b) falsifies,
conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of, or causes or permits the
falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of, documents which the
person knows or suspects are or would be relevant to such an investigation,
the person shall be guilty of an offence unless he or she proves
that he or she had no intention of concealing the facts disclosed by the
documents from persons carrying out such an investigation.
(16) A person
guilty of an offence under paragraph (15) shall, on conviction, be liable
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to a fine or to both.
(17) For
avoidance of doubt, the powers of the Attorney General under this Article shall
be exercisable notwithstanding that the suspected offence was committed prior
to the coming into force of this Law.
3 Disclosure of information
(1) If
any information is subject to an obligation of secrecy imposed by or under any
enactment whether passed before or after this Law, that obligation shall not
have effect to prohibit the disclosure of that information to the Attorney
General or any person duly authorized under Article 2(10), but any
information received by such a person by virtue of this paragraph may only be
disclosed by the person for the purpose of a prosecution in Jersey or
elsewhere.[4]
(2) Without
prejudice to the Attorney General’s power to enter into agreements apart
from this paragraph, the Attorney General may enter into an agreement for the
supply of information to or by the Attorney General subject, in either case, to
an obligation not to disclose the information concerned otherwise than for a
specified purpose.
(3) Subject
to paragraph (1) and to any provision of an agreement for the supply of
information which restricts the disclosure of the information supplied,
information obtained by the Attorney General or any person duly authorized
under Article 2(10) may be disclosed –
(a) to any person or body
for the purposes of any investigation of an offence or prosecution in Jersey or
elsewhere; and
(b) to any competent
authority.[5]
(4) The
following are competent authorities for the purposes of paragraph (3) –
(a) an inspector appointed
under Article 128 of the Companies
(Jersey) Law 1991;[6]
(b) any person or body
having supervisory, regulatory or disciplinary functions in relation to
financial services, any profession or any area of commercial activity;
(c) any person having under
the law of any country or territory outside Jersey functions corresponding to
any of the functions of an inspector referred to in sub-paragraph (a); and
(d) any person or body
having under the law of any country or territory outside Jersey functions
corresponding to any of the functions mentioned in sub-paragraph (b).[7]
4 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Investigation of Fraud (Jersey)
Law 1991.