Singapore legislation
Clause 4
Clause 4
Repeal and re-enactment of section 35A and new sections 35B and 35C
Section 35A of the Moneylenders Act is repealed and the following sections substituted therefor:“Jurisdiction of court35A. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), a District Court shall have jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and shall have power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence.Offences by bodies corporate, etc.35B.—
Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or
to be attributable to any neglect on his part,the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate. (3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or
to be attributable to any neglect on his part,the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (4) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —
to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or
to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such an officer or member,the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (5) In this section —“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership;“officer” —
in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or
in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity;“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.(6) The Minister may make rules to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a territory outside Singapore.Presumption35C.—
Where the bank account or automated teller machine card of any person is proved to the satisfaction of the court to have been used in the collection of debts by an unlicensed moneylender, that person shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have assisted in the carrying on of the business of an unlicensed moneylender in contravention of section 8(1)(b).(2) In this section, “unlicensed moneylender” means any person —
who is presumed to be a moneylender under section 3; and
who does not hold a licence.”.