447. Punishment for fraud.— Without prejudice to any liability including repayment of any debt
under this Act or any other law for the time being in force, any person who is found to be guilty of fraud,
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may
extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine which shall not be less than the amount involved in the
fraud, but which may extend to three times the amount involved in the fraud:
Provided that where the fraud in question involves public interest, the term of imprisonment shall not
be less than three years.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section—
(i) ―fraud‖ in relation to affairs of a company or any body corporate, includes any act, omission,
concealment of any fact or abuse of position committed by any person or any other person with the
connivance in any manner, with intent to deceive, to gain undue advantage from, or to injure the
interests of, the company or its shareholders or its creditors or any other person, whether or not there
is any wrongful gain or wrongful loss;
(ii) ―wrongful gain‖ means the gain by unlawful means of property to which the person gaining is
not legally entitled;
(iii) ―wrongful loss‖ means the loss by unlawful means of property to which the person losing is
legally entitled.
