Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011
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Offences relating to client accounts and accounting records. |
47.— (1) Subject to subsection (2), a licensee who knowingly lodges client moneys (or who knowingly causes client moneys to be lodged) to an account other than a client account is guilty of an offence. | |
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a licensee who lodges client moneys (or who causes client moneys to be lodged) to an account (in this subsection referred to as the “relevant account”) other than a client account where— | ||
(a) the relevant account is an account into which charges levied under section 18 of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 are paid for the purposes of a scheme referred to in that section, or | ||
(b) the relevant account is an account into which contributions fixed under section 19 of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 are paid for the purposes of a sinking fund referred to in that section. | ||
(3) A licensee who knowingly makes (or causes so to be made) a false or misleading entry or record in accounting records is guilty of an offence. | ||
(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (3) shall be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both. | ||
(5) Subject to subsection (6), where a licensee is convicted summarily of an offence under subsection (1) or (3), the court may, after having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances in which it was committed, order that the licence held by the licensee be revoked and that the former licensee be prohibited (which may be a permanent prohibition, a prohibition for a specified period or a prohibition subject to specified conditions) from applying for any new licence or a particular class of new licence. | ||
(6) An order under subsection (5) shall not take effect until— | ||
(a) the ordinary time for bringing an appeal against the conviction concerned or the order has expired without any such appeal having been brought, | ||
(b) any such appeal has been withdrawn or abandoned, or | ||
(c) on any such appeal, the conviction or order, as the case may be, is upheld. | ||
(7) Subject to subsection (8), where a licensee is convicted on indictment of an offence under subsection (1) or (3), the court shall order that all the licences held by the licensee be revoked and that the former licensee be permanently prohibited from applying for any licence. | ||
(8) An order under subsection (7) shall not take effect until— | ||
(a) the ordinary time for bringing an appeal against the conviction concerned has expired without any such appeal having been brought, | ||
(b) any such appeal has been withdrawn or abandoned, or | ||
(c) on any such appeal, the conviction is upheld. |