What is the Offence False Accounting?
Prosecutions of those guilty of committing the offence of false accounting are now regularly reported in the press given that prosecuting authorities are concerned to tackle the ever increasing volume of offences that are committed.
False accounting encompasses the tampering with any record retained for financial purposes whether the purpose is, for example, the preparation and submission of any tax or VAT return, the pursuit of a loan or the false enhancement of a company’s trading results for the purposes of sale etc.
John Veale of Kangs Solicitors outlines the basis of the crime.
The Offence
The offence is created by Section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 (‘the Act’) which states:
17 False accounting
(1) Where a person dishonestly, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another,—
(a) destroys, defaces, conceals or falsifies any account or any record or document made or required for any accounting purpose; or
(b) in furnishing information for any purpose produces or makes use of any account, or any such record or document as aforesaid, which to his knowledge is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular;
he shall, on conviction on indictment, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
(2) For purposes of this section a person who makes or concurs in making in an account or other document an entry which is or may be misleading, false or deceptive in a material particular, or who omits or concurs in omitting a material particular from an account or other document, is to be treated as falsifying the account or document.
Who Is Affected?
Liability for an offence under the Act extends to all officers of a company including directors, managers and secretaries if they have been involved with illegal activity amounting to false accounting in any way.
How Can We Help?
As will be seen above, a potential prison sentence of seven years is available thereby illustrating the severity of the crime.
Kangs Solicitors has a national reputation for defending clients facing criminal prosecutions of all types including the most complex fraud offences.
Our team is led by Hamraj Kang who is recognised as a leading expert in the field. He is one of only two solicitors nationally to be ranked as a ‘star individual’ for four consecutive years in the legal directory Chambers & Partners.
Other members of the team are ranked in the Legal 500 and also ranked in Chambers & Partners.
If you are in need of our expert help and advice please do not hesitate to contact our team through:
Tel: 0333 370 4333
Email: info@kangssolicitors.co.uk
We provide initial no obligation discussion at our three offices in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. Alternatively, discussions can be held through video conferencing or telephone.
