Accounts, Falsification Of

Accounts, falsification of, a misdemeanour on the part of a clerk, etc., by the (English) Falsification of Accounts Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. C. 24), punishable by penal servitude up to seven years or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, up to two years, see R. v. Oliphant, 1905 (2) KB 67. The document or account mentioned in s. 1 of that Act must belong to or be in possession of the employer, R. v. Palin, 1906 (1) KB 7. Falsification of accounts may amount to forgery within the (English) Forgery Act, 1913 (3 & 4 Geo. 5, c. 27) [Re Arton, 1896 (1) QB 509]. The falsification of a mechanical means of recording an account, e.g., a taxi-meter, and thereby defrauding the employer, is within the Act, R. v. Solomons, (1909) 2 KB 980. As to officers of companies and bodies corporate keeping fradulent accounts, etc., see (English) Larceny Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. C. 96), ss. 82-84, and (English) Larceny Act, 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5, c. 50), s. 20; in the case of a company being wound up. (English) Companies Act, 1929, ss. 271 and 272