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Macolin Convention on Competition Manipulation
Legal Commentary and Sports Integrity Database

New Zealand

Regulations

I. General criminal law provisions

  1. Crimes Act 1961
  • Bribery of public officials – Sections 100-105, Crimes Act 1961
  • Deception – Section 240, Crimes Act 1961 (see also Section 240A quoted below)

Section 240 - Obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception

“(1) Every one is guilty of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception who, by any deception and without claim of right,—

(a) obtains ownership or possession of, or control over, any property, or any privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly; or

(b) in incurring any debt or liability, obtains credit; or

(c) induces or causes any other person to deliver over, execute, make, accept, endorse, destroy, or alter any document or thing capable of being used to derive a pecuniary advantage; or

(d) causes loss to any other person.

(1A) Every person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who, without reasonable excuse, sells, transfers, or otherwise makes available any document or thing capable of being used to derive a pecuniary advantage knowing that, by deception and without claim of right, the document or thing was, or was caused to be, delivered, executed, made, accepted, endorsed, or altered.

(2) In this section, deception means—

(a) a false representation, whether oral, documentary, or by conduct, where the person making the representation intends to deceive any other person and—

(i) knows that it is false in a material particular; or

(ii) is reckless as to whether it is false in a material particular; or

(b) an omission to disclose a material particular, with intent to deceive any person, in circumstances where there is a duty to disclose it; or

(c) a fraudulent device, trick, or stratagem used with intent to deceive any person”.

 

  1. Secret Commissions Act 1910, Section 3,4 and 8

Section 3, Secret Commissions Act 1910: Gifts to agent without consent of principal an offence.

“(1) Every person is guilty of an offence who corruptly gives, or agrees or offers to give, to any agent any gift or other consideration as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do, or for having done or forborne to do, any act in relation to the principal’s affairs or business (whether such act is within the scope of the agent’s authority or the course of his employment as agent or not), or for showing or having shown favour or disfavour to any person in relation to the principal’s affairs or business. (2) Any gift or other consideration given or offered or agreed to be given to any parent, husband, wife, civil union partner, de facto partner, or child of any agent, or to his partner, clerk, or servant, or (at the agent’s request or suggestion) to any other person, shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to have been given or offered or agreed to be given to the agent”.

Section 4,Secret Commissions Act 1910: Acceptance of such gifts by agent an offence.

“(1) Every agent is guilty of an offence who corruptly accepts or obtains, or agrees or offers to accept or attempts to obtain, or solicits from any person, for himself or for any other person, any gift or other consideration as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do, or for having done or forborne to do, any act in relation to the principal’s affairs or business (whether such act is within the scope of the agent’s authority or the course of his employment as agent or not), or for showing or having shown favour or disfavour to any person in relation to the principal’s affairs or business. (2) Every agent who diverts, obstructs, or interferes with the proper course of the affairs or business of his principal, or fails to use due diligence in the prosecution of such affairs or business, with intent to obtain for himself or for any other persson any gift or other consideration from any person interested in such affairs or business, shall be deemed to have corruptly solicited a consideration within the meaning of this section”.

Section 8, Secret Commissions Act 1910: Receiving secret reward for procuring contracts an offence.

“(1) Every person is guilty of an offence who advises any person to enter into a contract with a third person and receives or agrees to receive from that third person, without the knowledge and consent of the person so advised, any gift or consideration as an inducement or reward for the giving of that advice or the procuring of that contract, unless the person giving that advice himself acts as the agent of the third person in entering into the contract, or is to the knowledge of the person so advised the agent of that third person. (2) For the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to advise another person to enter into a contract if he makes to that other person any statement or suggestion with intent to induce him to enter into the contract”.

  1. Company Act 1993, Section 380

Carrying on business fraudulently (1) Every person who is knowingly a party to a company carrying on business with intent to defraud creditors of the company or any other person or for a fraudulent purpose commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the penalties set out in section 373(4) of this Act. (2) Every director of a company who,— (a) by false pretences or other fraud induces a person to give credit to the company; or (b) with intent to defraud creditors of the company,— (i) gives, transfers, or causes a charge to be given on, property of the company to any person; or (ii) causes property to be given or transferred to any person; or (iii) caused or was a party to execution being levied against property of the company— commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the penalties set out in section 373(4) of this Act. (3) Every director of a company commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the penalties set out in section 373(4), who, with intent to defraud a creditor or creditors of the company, does any thing that causes material loss to any creditor”.

 

II. Sport-specific criminal law provisions

  • Match-fixing as a form of deception - Sections 240A and 241, Crimes Act (as amended in 2014)

Section 240A - Application of Section 240 to match-fixing:

"(1) For the purposes of section 240, deception includes any act or omission that is done or omitted with intent to influence a betting outcome of an activity of a kind to which subsection 

(2) applies by manipulating - 

(a) the overall result of the activity; or

(b) any event within the activity. 

(2) This subsection applies to activities of the following kinds:

(a) sporting competitions. games, matches, races, and rallies involving human participants (whether or not they involve equipment, horses, vehicles, or vessels):

(b) dog races.

(3) This section does not limit or affect the generality of section 240"

Section 241- Punishment of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception
Every one who is guilty of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception is liable as follows:(a) if the loss caused or the value of what is obtained or sought to be obtained exceeds $1,000, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years:(b) if the loss caused or the value of what is obtained or sought to be obtained exceeds $500 but does not exceed $1,000, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year:(c) if the loss caused or the value of what is obtained or sought to be obtained does not exceed $500, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months”.

Last update: 25.11.2022