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Serious Fraud Office Act 1990

Detection of serious or complex fraud

6: Power to obtain search warrant

You could also call this:

"Getting a warrant to search a place for evidence of serious fraud"

Illustration for Serious Fraud Office Act 1990

You can get a search warrant if you apply in writing and under oath. The Director can apply for a warrant to search a place. A Judge can issue a warrant if they believe someone has not given all the documents they were asked for, or has not answered questions truthfully, or if it is not possible to give them a notice. You need reasonable grounds to believe that there are documents or things at the place that could be relevant to an investigation or could be evidence of serious or complex fraud. The Judge must be satisfied with these grounds before issuing a warrant. The warrant must be in a prescribed form. If a warrant is issued, it will be subject to the rules outlined in Part 3. This means that the warrant will have to follow certain procedures. You should know what these procedures are if you are involved in a search warrant.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM211430.

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5: Power to require production of documents, or

"The Director can ask you to share important documents to help with a fraud investigation."

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7: Exercise of powers under this Part, or

"Using special powers to investigate serious fraud"

Part 1Detection of serious or complex fraud

6Power to obtain search warrant

  1. The Director may, on application in writing made on oath, apply for a warrant to search any place specified in the application.

  2. Any Judge who, on such an application, is satisfied—

  3. that there are reasonable grounds for believing—
    1. that a person has failed to produce all of the documents specified in a notice given pursuant to section 5(1); or
      1. that a person has failed to answer any question asked pursuant to section 5(1) or that any answer given to any such question is false or misleading in a material particular or is incomplete; or
        1. that it is not practicable to serve a notice under section 5 by reason of the fact that the person cannot be located or is absent from New Zealand or other good cause; and
        2. that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there may be, at the place specified in the application, any documents or other thing that may be relevant to an investigation or may be evidence of any offence involving serious or complex fraud,—
            1. may issue a warrant in the prescribed form.

          1. Part 3 shall apply to any such warrant.