Singapore legislation
Section 142
Section 142
Failure to keep proper accounts of business
(1)
A bankrupt shall be guilty of an offence if, having been engaged in any business within 2 years before the making of the bankruptcy application by or against him, he has not —
kept proper accounting records throughout that period and throughout any part of the initial period in which he was so engaged; or
preserved all the accounting records which he has kept.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed not to have kept proper accounting records if he has not kept such records as are necessary to show or explain his transactions and financial position in his business, including —
records containing entries from day to day, in sufficient detail, of all cash paid and received;
where the business involved dealings in goods, statements of annual stock-takings; and
except in the case of goods sold by way of retail trade to the actual customer, records of all goods sold and purchased showing the buyers and sellers in sufficient detail to enable the goods and the buyers and sellers to be identified.
(3)
A bankrupt shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) —
if his unsecured liabilities at the commencement of the bankruptcy did not exceed $10,000; or
if he proves that in the circumstances in which he carried on business the omission was honest and excusable.