401. (1) At any time of the year, if so required in writing by at least five electors of a municipal corporation in the territory, the council shall also order a special audit of the accounts of the Regional Government for one or more of the last five years, provided that no such audit has already been made for the same years under this section.
(2) The costs of such audit shall be payable by the responsible officer of the Regional Government, if he has been guilty of embezzlement or if, having been found short in his accounts, he fails to repay the balance within the delay fixed by subsection 5; otherwise, the costs shall be payable by the persons who demanded the audit, unless the audit is of advantage to the Regional Government.
(3) The demand for an audit under this section must be accompanied by a deposit of $100, unless a greater amount is determined from time to time by the Minister, which shall be returned to the petitioners if the costs of the audit are not charged to them.
(4) Any auditor appointed for such purposes may be an individual or a partnership, and may entrust the work to his or its employees, but then the responsibility of such auditor shall be the same as if such work had been entirely performed by the auditor himself.
(5) Within thirty days after the service upon him of a copy of the report of the audit, the defaulting officer of the Regional Government must pay the amount of the balance which he has been found to owe, as well as the costs of the audit.