Companies Act 2014 section 672

Order for payment or delivery of property against person examined under section 671

Section 672 empowers the court to order a person being examined during a winding-up investigation to pay debts owed to the company or hand over company property, money, or records to the liquidator, and provides for enforcement through search and seizure powers.

• Where a court examination reveals that a person owes money to the company or holds company property, money, or records, the court can order that person to pay the debt or surrender those assets to the liquidator
• If such an order is made and not complied with, the court can grant a further order allowing entry to, search of, and seizure from the person's premises (including a dwelling) within 30 days, using reasonable force if necessary
• Anyone who obstructs the exercise of court-ordered entry, search, and seizure rights commits a category 2 offence, and criminal proceedings do not prevent the court from also pursuing contempt of court proceedings
• The term "liquidator" in this section includes a provisional liquidator, and any direction regarding seized items must not benefit the Director of the Corporate Enforcement Authority beyond recovery of the Authority's costs and reasonable expenses

---