Any officer, agent, or employee of any public utility who shall fail or refuse to fill out and return any blanks, as required by this chapter, or shall fail or refuse to answer any question therein propounded, or shall knowingly or wilfully give a false answer to any such question, or shall evade the answer to any such question where the fact inquired of is within his knowledge, or who shall, upon proper demand, fail or refuse to exhibit to the Commission or any member thereof, or any person authorized to examine the same, any book, paper, account, record, or memoranda of such public utility which is in his possession or under his control, or who shall fail to properly use and keep his system of accounting, or any part thereof as prescribed by the Commission under this chapter, or who shall refuse to do any act or thing in connection with such system of accounting when so directed by the Commission or its authorized representative shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 for each offense, and when such officer, agent, or employee acted in disobedience [sic] to the direction, construction, or request of the public utility involved, said public utility in addition, shall pay a penalty of not more than $2,000 for each offense.