But it also gave birth to a whole class of scammers profiting from people’s legal illiteracy. Knowing their schemes will help you avoid mistakes. It is precisely in order to notify you of the possible consequences that threaten you in the event of fraud with maternity capital, this article was written.
What is certificate misuse?
Any actions with maternity capital that go beyond the scope of Law N 256-FZ “On additional measures to support families with children.” Article 7 of this law contains clear instructions on how money received from the state can be spent.
The law provides that there are only the following ways to realize capital:
- Payment for children's education.
- Home improvement.
- Adaptation of disabled children.
- Contribution to mom's pension.
Attempts to spend the subsidy on something else will be considered illegal and amount to fraud.
Many families misuse funds, not being aware of the responsibility for their actions.
Since the introduction of family capital as a method of social support, there have been rumors that the capital can be legally cashed out, spent on purchasing a car or other needs not provided for by the Federal Law.
And this results in bad consequences: transactions are recognized as fraudulent , young people get into trouble with the law.
Responsibility for misuse of family subsidies
Responsibility for using maternal capital for purposes other than its intended purpose is regulated by the second part of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This crime is punishable by up to two years of probation.
For someone accused of fraud, everything will depend on the scale of the criminal act and how many people were involved in the criminal scheme.
According to the Department of Economic Crimes, most of the economic crimes investigated in their department relate to fraud with family capital.
The verification of misuse is initiated by the Pension Fund , one of whose departments is responsible for monitoring such cases.
The fact that any unlawful actions with maternity capital is regarded by the Criminal Code as fraud with significant damage plays against potential fraudsters.
Significant damage, according to the Criminal Code, is equal to an amount of at least 10 thousand rubles. What responsibility for misuse can be incurred if fraud is proven in court?
- Correctional work.
- House arrest.
- Suspended prison sentence.
- Fine.
According to statistics from the same Department of Economic Crimes, suspended imprisonment is most often used.
If aggravating factors are found, such as giving a bribe to an official or a conspiracy prepared in advance by a group of people, the punishment can reach up to 10 years in prison.
But these cases are rare and are possible only with very large-scale fraud with cash subsidies.
About the allocation of shares for children
The law clearly defines that certificate holders are obliged to provide their children with housing if it was purchased with the participation of maternity capital. But the Federal Law does not have a clear procedure for the distribution of shares. Parents can independently determine the size of the share for their children. Some of them divide the property strictly equally so that everyone has an equal share. For example, if there are four people in a family, then each of them receives ¼. Some parents give their children minimal shares. But even if a child owns 1/100 of the share, it is no longer possible to hold him accountable for violating the law.
Maternity capital fraud
There are many fraudulent schemes involving family capital. The most common motive that encourages people to join them by handing over a certificate is legal illiteracy and the desire for easy money.
There are companies that offer to cash out maternity capital for a small amount or even free of charge.
Sometimes real estate firms do this, offering to resell the apartment several times, cashing out the money as a result of several real estate transactions.
Sometimes fraud consists not only of an attempt to cash out or misuse the subsidy, but also of an illegal attempt to obtain a capital certificate.
If a person uses fake documents when applying for maternity capital, and then this is discovered, he will again be judged under Article 159.
Every year, methods for detecting fraud are improving. And although scammers assure young people that there will be no problems with the law, punishment cannot be avoided in most cases.
It is no coincidence that employees of the Pension Fund immediately inform those applying for a subsidy that fraud is very strictly punished by law.
REFERENCE. The benefits from such actions are minimal. Fraudulent firms will either leave their clients with a tiny percentage of their transactions or nothing at all. And in the latter case, it will not even be possible to go to court, because the fact of a criminal conspiracy will be revealed.
Arbitrage practice
If you look at court decisions in cases related to the misuse of family capital, two interesting facts will emerge:
- Over the past four years, control over the use of MSC funds has increased.
- The Pension Fund, if it needs to win in court, will conduct all the necessary examinations and force them to pay compensation.
Here, for example, is the appeal ruling in case No. 33-2833/2013 of the Supreme Court of the Komi Republic. Citizen K. was found guilty of misuse of maternal capital.
Having agreed with a third party to purchase a new home, she, firstly, received a loan for its purchase, and secondly, sent an application for maternity capital.
After the funds received from the loan were given to third parties, the transaction was closed, and the MSK certificate was used to repay the loan. A week later, citizen K. decided to cancel the deal to sell the apartment and return the money. Thus, citizen K.’s maternity capital funds were cashed out and then used to buy a car (can MK be spent on buying a car?).
This scheme is typical for those wishing to cash out maternity capital. By colluding with third parties and promising them a cash kickback from the transaction, many hope to get easy money. The verdict passed by the court obliged citizen K. to compensate for the damage caused to the Federal Budget.
Deadlines
Many parents do not know a clear answer to this question; it should be sorted out. If the housing was purchased with a mortgage loan, then part of it can be transferred to minor children only after the encumbrance is removed. Banks do not allow the disposal of real estate and the completion of legal transactions with it until the mortgage loan is fully paid off.
If the housing was purchased without a mortgage and there are no encumbrances on it, then the shares must be allocated no later than 6 months after the use of maternity capital. Here it is important to understand that the starting point is not considered the moment of registration of the notarial obligation, but six months after the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation made the payment of funds.
Please note that funds cannot be disposed of without a notarial obligation. It is drawn up at a notary's office at the request of the certificate holder.
Can bailiffs arrest and take away social capital?
According to Federal Law No. 229 “On Enforcement Proceedings”, social subsidies are not included in the list of funds that can be seized by bailiffs. In addition, maternity capital funds are stored in pension fund accounts, so they cannot be seized or physically seized.
A maternity capital certificate is not money, but the right to dispose of the money received. Based on this, the actions of the bailiffs to confiscate maternity capital will be considered illegal.
REFERENCE. If the bailiffs are going to seize the money that has been deposited into your account, this is also illegal. At any stage of receiving MSC, it is not your money, but the state’s money, you only decide how to use it.
What are the penalties for government subsidy scams?
It all depends on the scale of the crime.
The smallest punishment for fraud with maternity capital can be incurred if you alone try to illegally spend a government subsidy and mislead a certain circle of people.
Such a scam does not contain elements of conspiracy, since the criminal acted alone, and does not contain elements of bribery or intimidation of an official.
If they enter into a criminal conspiracy and deliberately create a criminal scheme, fraudsters can count on a real sentence of up to four years in prison.
In the best case, you can count on 480 hours of correctional labor and a fine equal to the salary of the convicted person for 2 years.
If you enter into an agreement with a corrupt official, the punishment can even reach 6 years in prison with a fine of 800 thousand rubles. If a scam involving maternity capital is discovered, the members of the criminal group will bear collective responsibility.
Review of judicial practice. Examples
Illustration of punishment for a fraudulent scheme with state payments using the example of a decision of the Nizhny Novgorod regional court:
Citizen M., accused of fraud with state payments, entered into a criminal conspiracy with citizen B, who promised to be the first to sell real estate at an inflated price.
The purchased house did not meet the formal requirements of the law. The price itself cannot be a reason for litigation.
According to the MSC law, the subsidy can be spent on repairs or purchase of real estate. But the condition of the house purchased by citizen M. was terrible: there were no basic means of communication, glass or frames on the windows, and dry leaves were scattered around the house. By all indications, the house can be considered abandoned.
The Supreme Court ruled to recognize the real estate sale transaction as illegal and ordered citizen M. to return the funds to the Pension Fund.
ATTENTION. The case itself was initiated solely because of the dilapidation of the purchased housing. Fraudulent schemes with inflated prices and kickbacks from them are the most stable.
Let's consider the case of judicial practice with cashing out PF funds through a fictitious loan. In 2011, in the Kurgan region, citizen L., having forged documents and taken possession of a certificate for family capital, submitted an application to the Pension Fund for payment on a previously taken out loan.
The loan by citizen L. was taken from a shell company, which she herself managed through third parties. The application was approved by the Pension Fund, and the money ended up in the account of the shell company.
And at that moment, when L. finally intended to cash out money from the LLC’s account, the prosecutor’s office uncovered her criminal plan. Court decision: to deprive citizen L. of her liberty for a period of 1 year and 6 months with the obligation to reimburse the amount of the subsidy to the state.
As you can see, a lot of fraudulent schemes with maternity capital have been invented. People who do not have deep knowledge of jurisprudence cannot assess all the risks of participating in such schemes and become victims of scammers.
Punishment for such scams is a real prospect for lovers of easy money. Judicial practice only confirms this.
Documents for Companies House
The following documents must be provided:
- agreement (a copy, since the original will be kept in the Pension Fund in any case and will not be handed over to the applicant. If any questions arise, the registrar himself can clarify the details by contacting the Pension Fund);
- parent's ID card;
- birth certificates of all offspring (copies and originals);
- housing documents;
- state duty check (it amounts to 2 thousand rubles);
The registration process takes up to ten working days.
